Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova committed herself Saturday to making her belated Fed Cup debut for Russia next weekend.

The 20-year-old will spearhead the opening round of Russia's Fed Cup defense away to Israel in the February 2-3 World Group tie.

Having lived in Florida since the age of seven while pursuing a tennis career, her commitment to Russia has often been questioned.

But she said it was only injuries and illness that had stopped her from playing in the teams event much earlier.

"Fingers crossed this will be the first time after a Grand Slam that I don't get sick or injured," she said after beating Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-3.

"I'm so excited about the opportunity (of playing in the Fed Cup)."

Sharapova denied she had a rocky relationship with other Russian women's players, who she will join in Israel.

Russia's Anna Chakvetadze questioned why Sharapova attended the Fed Cup final in Moscow last year when she had declared herself unavailable to play because of injury, but she denied suggestions she was unpopular with teammates.

"The majority of us have a wonderful relationship. We do," she said.

"I don't know what you saw, but we all went to team dinners. Yeah, I do. I have really good relationships.

"I couldn't play (in the final) but the captain asked me to come there and support them, and that's the least I could do."

And she insisted she was still proud of her Russian heritage.

"If I didn't have this career, I'd probably be back home in Russia in college right now, like one of my friends that I grew up with back there," she said.

King inspired victory

Sharapova said tennis great Billie Jean King inspired her Australian Open win with an encouraging text message ahead of her final against Ana Ivanovic.

The Russian said the 12-time Grand Slam champion gave her a simple piece of advice: "Champions take chances and pressure's a privilege".

"I had those great words in my mind during the match," the tournament fifth seed said after beating Serbian fourth seed Ivanovic in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.

She said she was playing in a tournament at Roehampton in Britain when King first approached her and offered encouraging advice and the pair had kept in touch since, largely through text messages.

"From that point on, she's just always been really supportive," she said.

"I actually don't see her that often but she's always one of the first people to text me when either I'm having a tough moment or a great win.

"It's wonderful because she's just done so much for the game and is such a great supporter of the sport."

Sharapova, whose Australian win was her third Grand Slam title, joked it would be tough to match King's record at the majors.

"I've got a long way to go to that," she said.

Ana vows to win Grand Slam

Ivanovic left Melbourne yesterday as the new world No 2, vowing to win a Grand Slam and cement her place among the tennis elite.

The 20-year-old leapfrogged Svetlana Kuznetsova in the rankings after making the Australian Open final, where Sharapova beat her in two tough sets.

Only Justine Henin stands between Ivanovic and the world No 1 spot and the Serbian is still getting used to being in the Belgian's slipstream.

"I know I am close to winning a Grand Slam, and I belong to the top group of players," she said on her blog on the WTA website.

"Only nine months ago I was ranked 16, and now I'm No 2. I am proud of this achievement, but I'm still getting used to it."

(Agencies via China Daily January 28, 2008)