Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova could not win the elusive Fed Cup title last week-end at the O2 Arena in Prague despite her two singles wins against Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova but she was happy to make the Russian team in her fifth appearance in this competition.
The Russian super-star had played in just four first-round matches in the Fed Cup before making the team last week-end for her first ever Fed Cup final in Prague.
The Fed Cup is one of the two big titles missing from her impressive collection of titles together with the Olympic singles gold medal. She will be bidding to achieve this big goal next summer in Rio de Janeiro four years after the Olympic silver medal in London 2012.
Sharapova had not played in the Fed Cup since 2012 and had to play for her native country in the first round against Poland and in the final against Czech Republic to be eligible to represent Russia at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“I came here to play two singles matches and I did my duty. It was a great result to reach the Fed Cup Final for the first time in my career. It was so special really. In an event like this you are not just playing for yourself, you are playing for your teammates, for your country. It’s a very unique feeling”, said Sharapova of last week-end’s Final.
