MOSCOW, October 23 (R-Sport) – Sara Errani heads a strong Italian team for next month’s Fed Cup final, with all of the country’s top four women’s tennis players to vie for the title against Russia, organizers said Wednesday.
Italy hosts Russia on the clay courts of Cagliari, Sardinia, on November 2 and 3, with No. 7 Errani, 13th-ranked Roberta Vinci, No. 31 Flavia Pennetta and No. 41 Karin Knapp making up the team, Fed Cup organizers said on Twitter.
Errani and Vinci are also the world’s No. 1-ranked doubles team this season. By taking part, Vinci turns down the option to play at the WTA Tournament of Champions in Sofia, which offers significant ranking points and prize money.
The Russian team has not been announced, but it will be without world No. 3 Maria Sharapova, who has ruled herself out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury and last played a Fed Cup match in February last year.
Russian No. 2 and world No. 18 Maria Kirilenko has yet to announce whether she will play in the Fed Cup or the Tournament of Champions.
The Russian team that beat Slovakia in the semifinals in April was made up of Kirilenko, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
