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Sharapova and Myskina feud threatens Russian unity
A bitter feud between Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and French Open winner Anastasia Myskina is threatening to sabotage Russia's defence of their Fed Cup crown in 2005 at a time when the country's tennis Tsarinas are on top of the world. Myskina led Russia to their first ever Fed Cup title on Sunday to add to her Roland Garros crown.
Sharapova, who was also overlooked for the Olympic Games, wasn't selected but the blonde bombshell was still at the centre of an explosive row which is tearing the Russia team apart. The fall-out had been simmering since Sharapova defeated Myskina in the semi-finals of the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles earlier this month when the Wimbledon champion was hit with a code violation for receiving coaching from father Yuri. "He was yelling and screaming to her and I thought he just might jump right on the court at one point," complained Myskina. Sharapova defended her father whom she famously raced to tearfully embrace high in the stands of the All England Club in July when she beat Serena Williams to clinch her Wimbledon title. "I understand what he's going through," said the Russian teen. "If I was on the sidelines watching every match, I would be pretty emotional, too." Despite Myskina's French Open triumph and Svetlana Kuznetsova's US Open triumph in 2004, it is the leggy, pretty blonde figure of Sharapova who is grabbing front pages and column inches. Her compatriots are being put in the shade and their frustrations are being compounded by Sharapova's love of the United States where she lives full time while the likes of Myskina, Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva spend their time away from the tour in Russia. Myskina made public her rage at the Fed Cup in Moscow (as Russia beat France 3-2) where she threatened to pull out of the team if Sharapova is selected next year. The 17-year-old Sharapova insists she is on good terms with the Russian players although she can't hide her love of the United States.
"I feel a lot safer in America than I would be going back to Russia," said the girl who left behind her impoverished upbringing in Sochi when she was nine to train at the Bolleteri Academy in Florida. "I was raised in Russia, I feel like I am going back home, I am comfortable there because that is where I was born. But I don't think I would want to live there. Life is just so very different after being in the US for so long. "I always talk with the other Russian players. Even when I beat Vera (Zvonareva) in the second round in the French Open, we were talking after the match," she said in Paris in June. "Off court we are friends, but on the court it's a totally different story because we want to beat each other. "We are not going out to hate one another for some reason. We are still very young and we are going to be doing this for many years to come. So it's better to get to know each other now." Back in Moscow, meanwhile, Myskina was basking in the spotlight after she and Zvonareva won the decisive doubles to clinch Russia's first Fed Cup title beating French pair Marion Bartoli and Emilie Loit 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. Afterwards Myskina, who won all of her three matches in the final, said it was better than winning the Roland Garros title. "Here I have all my friends around me, and Im definitely more happy here, right now. Here it is for my team, and for my country."
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