Australian No. 1 singles player and No. 1 doubles player in the world Samantha Stosur has pulled out of the Fed Cup because of illness. She has swollen glands in her neck and it’s painful for her even just to turn her neck. Stosur is very worried and upset since doctors still don’t know which virus has caused her illness (hopefully they will know when the test results emerge).

Stosur’s withdrawal from the Fed Cup means that the Australian team will have much less chances of defeating the strong Ukrainian team which means that they are highly likely to fall out of World Group II.

The Australian team now consists of Casey Dellacqua, Alicia Molik, Nicole Pratt and doubles specialist Rennae Stubbs, while members of the Ukrainian team are sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko, Yuliana Fedak and Yulia Beygelzimer. (source: Tennis Australia)

World number two Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Russian team for Fed Cup semi-final against the United States, which will take place this weekend in Vermont. The reason is her shoulder injury which has bothered her since April. World number four Svetlana Kuznetsova may also withdraw, since she has an injured shoulder too.

"Kuznetsova is a long shot. If her shoulder improves in the next couple of days then she'll play," said Russia Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev.

Sharapova will be replaced by world number 58 Elena Vesnina, and an alternate for Kuznetsova is world number 66 Alla Kudryavtseva (Reminder: Alla Kudryavtseva is that fantastic teenager who was so close to victory in her first round match at Wimbledon against the eventual champion Venus Williams)

Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze, ranked in the top 10 in the world, make up the rest of the Russian team.

As for the American team, it consists of Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Lisa Raymond and Vania King. (via Reuters)

Italy, the defending champion, hosts France in the Fed Cup semifinals on July 14 and 15.

I was listening to Severine Bremond’s interview in which she talks about her expectations for the Fed Cup and compares France’s first round tie in Japan to the upcoming one in Italy.

The Frenchwoman mentions that women in the French team get along very well and points out how their team consists of really good players. World No. 37 says that Italy will be a tough opponent, since France lost to Italy the last time they faced each other.

Bremond emphasizes how she loves playing for her country, and says that the team will give their best.

See also: Italy leave out Flavia Pennetta for Fed Cup, France omit Marion Bartoli

In the Fed Cup semi-final Italy and France will face each other at Castellaneta Marina on July 14 and 15 (surface: clay – outdoors).

Corrado Barazzutti, captain of the defending champions Italy, chose Tathiana Garbin, Mara Santangelo, Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci for the team. There will be no Flavia Pennetta since she lost to Marion Bartoli in the first round of Wimbledon.

On the other hand, Marion Bartoli won’t represent France in the Fed Cup since the captain Georges Goven turned down her request to be accompanied by her father and coach. French team consists of Amelie Mauresmo (who lost her Wimbledon crown falling to Nicole Vaidisova on Tuesday), Tatiana Golovin, Nathalie Dechy and Severine Bremond.

BTW: The Italians have had a worse Wimbledon in the singles than the Frenchwomen, with Santangelo losing to Mauresmo in the third round while Vinci, Garbin and Schiavone were all dumped out in the second round. (source: Reuters)

World number six Ana Ivanovic announced on her official website that she will play in the Fed Cup against the Slovak Republic. Ana enjoys playing for her country; so far she missed only one tie, in April, due to a busy schedule.

The first Serbian Grand Slam finalist said that she’s very excited because she believes that together with Jelena Jankovic, ranked third in the world, their team can achieve some great results. “We want so much to reach the World Group,” said the 19-year-old Ivanovic.

Furthermore, Ana made the decision to play less doubles, so as to be able to focus more on singles. “Doubles is great fun, but it can cause problems for singles, especially when there is a rain delay, or you need extra recovery time.”

“The worst thing would be if I had to withdraw from the doubles competition during a Grand Slam, because I was tired and needed to rest for singles – I would feel very bad, letting down a partner like that. Actually I would play anyway out of obligation, and that would not be a good situation.”

Therefore, Ana decided it was best not to commit to anything; her doubles partner Maria Kirilenko believes that Ana made the right decision.

I listened to a short interview of Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic in which the rising tennis star talked about how she would love to represent her country together with Jelena Jankovic.

The 19-year-old Ivanovic thinks that Serbia has a very good Fed Cup team, and that they deserve a place in the World Group.

With united powers of these two great players, Serbia can certainly achieve a lot and become a real power in the Fed Cup.

Now we know all the members of the Fed Cup semis which will take place in July; France will face Italy, the U.S. will play Russia. Italy and the United States will have advantage of home court.

The United States reached the final four by defeating Belgium with a stunning 5-0 win. Of course, their victory wouldn't have been so convincing if best Belgian players, the top-ranked Justin Henin and fourth-ranked Kim Clijsters, decided to take part in this year's Fed Cup.

However, the U.S. team had one drawback; best-ranked U.S. player, Serena Williams, had to be substituted in one match because of her injury. Vania King, an 18-year-old, played Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens instead of Serena. King defeated Flipkens and booked her country's place in the semis. Now, the U.S. leads 5-1 over Belgium in their Fed Cup meetings.

As for Russia, they lived up to the expectations and reached the semis with a clear 5-0 score against Spain. Russia had as much as three top 10 players — fifth-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova, ninth-ranked Nadia Petrova and eleventh-ranked Anna Chakvetadze. Even the lowest-ranked player in Russian team, world No.70 Elena Vesnina, was ranked higher than half of the Spanish team. Best-ranked Russian player, Maria Sharapova, planned to make her Fed Cup debut this year, but eventually withdrew because of problems with right shoulder and left hamstring; however, Russia obviously wasn't missing another great player, their team was strong enough even without Maria.

(source: Fed Cup official website)

Serena Williams of USA had to pull out of her Fed Cup match against Belgian Kirsten Flipkens because of minor inflammation in her right knee.

Serena's injury appeared after her Saturday's match against Caroline Maes, and her captain decided to replace her as a precaution.

Williams' team said that this injury is not related to her groin injury which, two weeks ago, forced her to leave the tournament in Charleston.

However, Serena's young replacement, Vania King added another point to the U.S. by defeating the Belgian player in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. This victory puts the U.S. into the Fed Cup semifinals where they will face Russia. (sources: Tennis Magazine, Fed Cup official website)

Italy, the defending champion, will meet France in the 2007 Fed Cup semifinals scheduled for July.

Italy booked their place in the final four by defeating China 5-0. World No. 23 Tathiana Garbin defeated China's Shuai Zhang 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Mara Santangelo overwhelmed Tian-Tian Sun 6-4, 6-2. In doubles, Mara Santangelo together with Roberta Vinci beat Tian-Tian Sun and Sheng-Nan Sun 6-2, 6-4.

France reached the semis by defeating Japan 5-0. Tatiana Golovin lived up to the expectations and ensured victory for her country by first beating Akiko Morigami 6-2, 6-4, and then Ai Sugiyama 7-6(3), 6-0.

Italy will host France in the semis, which gives a clear advantage to the team of defending champions. However, Italy doesn't have so promising head-to-heads against France; they lost six times and won only once. Still, their one win was last year when they defeated France 4-1 in the first round in Nancy. Later on, they beat Belgium and became the Fed Cup champions for the first time.

The third member of the Fed Cup final four is Russia, who will meet either USA or Belgium. (source: Fed Cup)

France's No. 2, Tatiana Golovin, will be the leader of the French team in the Fed Cup, since France's highest ranked player, Amelie Mauresmo, is still recovering from her appendectomy. A lot of pressure is put on Golovin, who has recently won her first WTA title, since she is expected to win three points playing singles and doubles this weekend. However, 19-year-old Golovin has already shown her mental strength in the Fed Cup – in 2004 by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, and in 2006 in Cagnes-sur-Mer versus the Czech Republic. (source: Fed Cup)