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Video: Russians Face Fed Cup Questions


Maria Sharapova knows how to make noise on court. The Russian No. 1 will try to play the role of silencer in this weekend's Fed Cup final in Prague.

Contesting her first Fed Cup final, Sharapova leads Russia against the defending champion Czech Republic, riding a winning streak of 14 consecutive live rubbers and five ties into the final.

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Things could get noisy inside the 10,850-seat O2 Arena. Sharapova, who is often the fan favorite wherever she plays, will have to cope with both a partisan crowd and Russia's recent struggles on the road.

The Russians have lost three of their last four road ties.

Sharapova says the focus will be on the ball and not the fans.

"We expect to have a great crowd and a very nice atmosphere," Sharapova told FedCup.com in the pre-draw press conference today. "We are going into this final as underdogs.

"We expect a stadium full of Czechs—I’m sure there will be some Russian flags flying around—but there will be more Czechs in the stadium than Russians. Our full concentration will be on what is ahead of us and not on what’s going on around us."

The Czechs boast three Top 11-ranked players—No. 6 Petra Kvitova, No. 9 Lucie Safarova and 11th-ranked Karolina Pliskova—in their quest for a fourth Fed Cup championship in the last five years.

Sharapova beat both Radwanska sisters helping visiting Russia power past Poland, 4-0, in the February quarterfinals.

Now she will try to lead captain Anastasia Myskina's squad to its first Fed Cup championship since 2008.

"There’s an incredible opportunity for me," Sharapova said. "It was a huge victory for the girls beating Germany in Sochi as I couldn’t be there and I don’t think many people thought we would come through."


Myskina would not reveal her plans for Russia's No. 2 single starter.

World No. 28 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who finished the season winning 12 of her final 14 matches, including capturing the Linz crown and falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Moscow final is an option in singles and doubles.

Former US Open semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova, who is 2-4 lifetime against Kvitova and 1-3 versus Safarova, has not played a match since her US Open fourth-round loss. But the Makarova, who owns a six-match Fed Cup winning streak, said she's ready to play if chosen.

"I'm here and I'm ready to play," Makarova said.

Elena Vesnina has the most finals experience of any player on the Russian team, but has played just four singles matches in her Fed Cup career, posting a 2-2 record.

Photo credit: Paul Zimmer/Martin Sidorjak/Fed Cup

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