Russian female squad will play away against...

The Russian squad, led by coach Shamil Tarpishchev, will begin with Alla Kudryavtseva"s game on Saturday against Melanie Oudin of the United States.

"It means more, I think, when you play as a team because you"re not only playing for yourself, but for your country and your team as well," the 18-year-old American tennis star was quoted by the official website as saying.

Kudryavsteva, who is making a debut at the Fed Cup, said playing in this tournament for the Russian team is like "dreams come true."

"Team competition is very different from individual matches, so I"m looking forward to it. I"ve never played in a Fed Cup tie, so I"m really excited," she said.

Their game will be followed by the encounter between Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Russia"s Elena Dementieva.

On Sunday the singles pairs, who played the day before, will switch their opponents and the quarterfinal meeting will be completed by doubles match between Liezel Huber/Bethhanie

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