Members of Russia's winning Fed Cup team have questioned the motives of Maria Sharapova who attended the final against Italy to show her support.

Maria Sharapova has never played Fed Cup for Russia, having had her injuries as a reason, but she has always underlined that she wants to play for her native country. But is Sharapova telling the truth? Many people believe that the 20-year-old from Siberia is just making herself available for Fed Cup in order to be eligible to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Kuznetsova, whose victory brought Russia third Fed Cup title on Sunday, made an interesting statement:

"She said she wanted to be our practice partner but if you can't play how then can you practice?" Read more »

Russia won their third Fed Cup title in four years with the victory over last year's surprising champions Italy in the final at Moscow's Luzhniki arena. On Sunday, Svetlana Kuznetsova saved two match points in a second-set tiebreaker before beating Italy's Francesca Schiavone 4-6 7-6 7-5 in the first reverse singles and giving the home team an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Italy.

Heavy favorites Russia had enjoyed a 2-0 lead after day one when Anna Chakvetadze beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Mara Santangelo 6-1 6-2.

In the picture you can see Maria Sharapova celebrating with the Russian team, but she didn't participate in the competition, her role was just that of a supporter. Actually, Sharapova has never played in the Fed Cup, and she was heavily criticized for that.

Here you can see the list of all Fed Cup champions since 1963. (photo via Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog)

Anna Chakvetadze and Svetlana Kuznetsova scored singles victories for favorite Russia and gave their team a 2-0 lead over holders Italy in the 2007 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas final.

Chakvetadze earned a hard-fought 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory over Francesca Schiavone, while Kuznetsova completely dominated Mara Santangelo 6-1, 6-2.

Russia needs just one more point to secure a Fed Cup title. However, there are three matches left, which are to take place during this weekend:

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs. Mara Santangelo (ITA)
Nadia Petrova/Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs. Mara Santangelo/Roberta Vinci (ITA)

(source: On the Baseline)

Interestingly, Maria Sharapova practiced with Russia's Fed Cup team at the Luzhniki Arena in Moscow on Wednesday, even though she won’t play in the September 15-16 final when her country takes on defending champion Italy.

Sharapova's appearance Wednesday was seen as an attempt to improve frosty relations with the team. The 20-year-old still hasn’t played for Russia in the Fed Cup. Citing injuries, she has withdrawn from the Fed Cup on two occasions in 2007, and was heavily criticized for that. (photo via Fed Cup)

Here’s a list of Fed Cup champions since the competition began in 1963. Country with most Fed Cup titles is the United States with seventeen, out of which seven were consecutive. Australia takes the second place with seven titles, while Spain and Czechoslovakia follow with five titles.

2007 Russia beat Italy 4-0
2006 Italy beat Belgium 3-2
2005 Russia beat France 3-2
2004 Russia beat France 3-2
2003 France beat U.S. 4-1
2002 Slovakia beat Spain 3-1
2001 Belgium beat Russia 2-1
2000 U.S. beat Spain 5-0 Read more »