Even without Maria Sharapova, Russia are favourites to lift the Fed Cup

The world No 2 has disappointed Russian tennis fans once again by pulling out of the Fed Cup. But even without Sharapova Russia will be too strong for the rest.
After years of being criticised for her allegiancies, tennis beauty and world No 2 Maria Sharapova was set to finally take to the court for the first time representing her native Russia in this weekend's Fed Cup tie. However Sharapova, whom many have said is more American than Russian, was forced to pull out after suffering an injury last month, once again delaying her long-awaited representation of her country.
To many countries, the loss of a two-time Grand Slam champion and one of the top three players of the last few years would be a major blow and would pretty much end the team's chances of lifting the cup at the end of the year but we are not talking about any nation, this is a country which currently boasts 10 players in the top 50.
This weekend sees the team of Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Vesnina take on Spain on an indoor red clay court in Moscow.
Kuznetsova is currently Russia's second highest ranked player and has already made two WTA finals this year, in Indian Wells and Doha, while Petrova, the third ranked Russian, has already helped her country win this year's Hopman Cup with Dmitry Tursonov as well as picking up a WTA title in Paris.
Suprisingly, 11th ranked Chakvetadze, has been one of the top Russians this year, winning Hobart and making it to the semi-finals at the Australian Open. Rounding off the team is Vesnina, who has struggled so far this year to find her top form. However, she is a handy doubles player, already picking up a title this year.
Added to this already impressive outfit are the likes of Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, Anastasia Myskina, Olga Poutchkova and Maria Kirilenko who were all unavailable or not picked for certain reasons to play this weekend.
Given this talent to fall back on, Russia has the depth that the remaining teams simply do not have, which makes them the hot favourites for this year's Fed Cup.Can any country stop the Russians lifting the Fed Cup? We want to hear from you at Sportingo....
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