Svetlana Kuznetsova joins Russia’s Fed Cup team, Jelena Jankovic’s participation in doubt

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Wilson Blade 9

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic

Russia and Serbia will face each other in this weekend’s Fed Cup first-round tie played in Belgrade, Serbia.

The latest news is that Russia’s team will be stronger than previously planned, as their highest ranked player world No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova changed her mind and joined world No.31 Alisa Kleybanova, No.38 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No.40 Vera Dushevina in the team.

However, Serbia’s team is likely to be weaker than expected because of Jelena Jankovic’s health problems. It should have consisted of former world No.1s Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, along with Ana Jovanovic and Bojana Jovanovski, but now we will see what will happen.

Here’s what Jankovic told her official website:

No, I haven’t come to Belgrade yet, and I’m still in Florida, where I’m fighting with back injury received in Melbourne. I didn’t want to speak in public about the problems that struck me in Australia, about the cold and the back injury that occurred during a practice while trying to change the way I served, because many would describe it to as a justification for the lost match […] Unfortunately, the situation got complicated, so I’m still in Florida, sad and in great uncertainty whether I would start the journey to my home town.

Serbia is making its World Group debut. Russia won the Fed Cup four times between 2004 and 2008 and Kuznetsova was part of three winning Russian teams. (photo by our reader Elisa)

9 COMMENTS

  1. whats wrong with the Serbians
    it looks like they are fading fast into mediocrity.Ana cannot find her toss,Jankovic seems burntout and ready to throw in the towel.

  2. Fyoto, they are in deep depression, and I don’t know when the time will come for them to overcome the problems.

  3. I read today that JJ has decided to play. Hopefully Serbia will win. They worked so hard to get here. I am remaining optimistic though. I still like Ana’s and JJ’s chances playing in front of their home crowd. And if Ana can do well, say get a win over both Kuznetsova and Kleybanova, that would give Ana her first top 10 win in over a year and be a great boost to her confidence moving forward.

  4. Curtis, it’s a big IF concerning Ana’s wins you mentioned. I basically can’t imagine her beating Kuznetsova now. Only if the home crowd inspires her. I would like her to get a boost of confidence, and I hope she’ll be able to success at home. Where did you read the news about JJ?

  5. I personally don’t think Anna can win any match unless it is a ranked russian player dushevina.
    But against the other 2? highly unlikely…
    And even if with Jelena probably playing they
    would lose the doubles match. Even if they were
    down 1-2 in the match. I can’t possible see
    them winning against Kuznetsova a double specialist
    and Kleybanova either both have made it far in
    grandslams. I can’t say the same for Jankovic when
    she was knocked out earlier in both Singles,and
    doubles in the australian open.

  6. I definitely think Ana can win playing at home. She still is a top 5 talented player even though she is playing like somebody outside the top 50.

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