Fed Cup Cooperation: USA, Russia Join Forces

(April 21, 2010) The United States and Russia will square off in this weekend's Fed Cup semifinals and competitors were collaborators in Birmingham yesterday.

U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez invited Russian players to join the Americans in conducting a kids clinic at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena and both Elena Dementieva and Ekaterina Makarova helped out.

"I asked Elena today if they would not mind coming over and she said ‘When we are done practicing, we will be there.’ It was really nice of them to come," Fernandez wrote in her blog on USTA.com.

Two other members of the Russian team, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Alla Kudryavtseva, are still en route to the site. Dementieva expects both to arrive on Wednesday though travel has been limited due to the ash from the Icelandic volcano.

"I asked Elena about the rest of the Russian team and she said she is not completely sure when everyone else is coming here because of the travel situation in Europe as a result of the erupting volcano in Iceland," Fernandez wrote in her blog. "She said she expects everyone to be here tomorrow (Wednesday) but she said you never know."

Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber are in Birmingham and Fernandez is expected to name one more member of the American team — she has been recruiting Venus Williams — prior to Friday's draw ceremony.