Maria Sharapova

Svetlana Kuznetsova answered the call of her country and finished off Spain in the fourth rubber of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round tie in Moscow.

The Fed Cup veteran faced a stiff challenge from world No. 77 Silvia Soler-Espinosa in what should have been a routine victory for the St Petersburg native. Having raced into a 62 41 lead the Russian appeared to be on course for the victory everyone expected but five straight games from Soler-Espinosa made for some worried looking faces on the Russian benches.

Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova won opening singles matches Saturday to give Russia a 2-0 lead over Spain in the first round of the Fed Cup.

Sharapova routed Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-2, 6-1. Kuznetsova then downed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-1.

After an early exchange of breaks, Sharapova won four consecutive games in the first set and four more in the second. She closed the match on her first match point with a forehand that Fed Cup rookie Soler-Espinosa failed to return.

Maria Sharapova routed Silvia Soler-Espinosa, 6-2, 6-1, in the opening singles match to give Russia a 1-0 lead over Spain in their Fed Cup first-round series in Moscow. Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam champion, was playing for Russia for the third time. She won both her singles matches against Israel in 2008. She lost in opening singles against France last year. The two-time major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova was to play against Spain’s Carla Suárez Navarro in the second singles match Saturday.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova will play Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the opening singles match Saturday when Russia hosts Spain in the first round of the Fed Cup. Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Carla Suarez Navarro in the second match.

"I'm satisfied with the draw," Sharapova said. "I wanted to play in the first match and I'm happy I will."

Maria Sharapova will be looking to fire Russia in their Fed Cup World Group opener against Spain this weekend as she returns to freezing Moscow after her run in the sun to the Australian Open final.

Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev was spoilt for choice for the tie on the indoor hard surface of Moscow's Olympic Stadium and has opted for world number three Sharapova for singles duty alongside 19th-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Maria Sharapova has held her first training session in Moscow ahead of Russia's Fed Cup quarter-final with Spain, which will get underway at the weekend.

The 24-year-old has only played in three Fed Cup matches in her career, but is looking forward to helping her team this time.

After a couple of injury-plagued years, the world number three reached the Australian Open final last week before losing in straight sets to Viktoria Azarenka.

And ahead of the Fed Cup quarter-finals, the Russian spoke exclusively to RT.

Despite the strong Spanish lineup, Russia goes into the weekend's Fed Cup quarterfinal as clear favorite, a confident Maria Sharapova said Wednesday.

"The Spanish team is strong but we're the favorites for the match regardless," Sharapova said after practice on the hard courts of Moscow's Olympiisky Sports Complex, where the match will take place.

A giggling Maria Sharapova was coy Wednesday over her wedding to Slovenian basketball star Sasha Vujacic, saying "I won't answer, it's our business."

The pair got engaged in October 2010 in Los Angeles, where Vujacic was playing point guard for the Lakers, but have yet to publicly name the day for the nuptials, or announce a location.

Vujacic told RIA Novosti last week that he is "being a gentleman" and letting Sharapova spill the details about the big day, saying "I'll let her tell you that next week."

Head of the Universe

A lot can happen in two Grand Slam weeks, and who can remember it all? On the women’s side 127 players leave without a title, and who can remember them all. You remember some things and some people, of course, because of what happened or maybe your point of view. Here are some of my WTA takeaways.

We were right about Victoria Azarenka.

Before Petra Kvitova, there was Victoria Azarenka. Everyone said she’d win Grand Slam titles, rule atop the rankings and be the next big thing. Everyone knew it, or knew someone who did.