MOSCOW, March 31: World number four Svetlana Kuznetsova will lead Fed Cup champions Russia in next month’s semi-final against the United States in Moscow.

In the absence of Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, who will skip the April 26-27 tie, captain Shamil Tarpishchev also named world number six Anna Chakvetadze, 13th-ranked Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva (20) and Elena Vesnina (53).

World number five Sharapova won both of her singles matches in her Fed Cup debut against Israel last month to help Russia to a 4-1 quarter-final victory.

“We had an agreement with Kuznetsova and Sharapova that one of them would play against Israel and the other against the US,” Tarpishchev said on Monday.

“Sharapova had already played in Tel Aviv, so now it’s Kuznetsova’s turn. It was sort of a trade-off because both of them have very busy schedules.

“They have to juggle individual tournaments with the Fed Cup. It’s not easy as both Kuznetsova and Sharapova are also hoping to become the world number one this year,” Tarpishchev added.

“Besides, this is an Olympic year, so it’s even more difficult to fit in all your commitments. So I’m very thankful to all our girls for their support of the team’s cause.”—Reuters