Injured Sharapova to sit out Fed Cup tie

(CNN) -- Maria Sharapova will not risk her shoulder injury to play for Russia in the Fed Cup semifinals against the United States later this month.

The Australian Open champion is resting ahead of the three remaining grand slams and the Beijing Olympics in August, Russian Tennis Federation vice president Alexei Selivanenko said on Tuesday.

Sharapova withdrew from this week's Sony Ericsson Open because of the injury.

World number five Sharapova, who has been criticized in her native Russia for not representing her country, played her first Fed Cup matches against Israel in February.

She is likely to be replaced by world number four Svetlana Kuznetsova for the best-of-five semifinal series to be held in Moscow on April 26-27.

"They have to juggle individual tournaments with the Fed Cup, and it's not easy as both Kuznetsova and Sharapova are also hoping to become the world number one this year," added Selivanenko.

Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina are also on the Russian team, while Elena Dementieva could be a late addition.

Russia are bidding for a second straight Fed Cup title and a fourth in five years.

In men's team tennis, Germany will be without Tommy Haas for their Davis Cup quarterfinal next week against Spain, although Nicolas Kiefer will be available for the April 11-13 indoor match in Bremen.

Team captain Patrik Kuehnen on Tuesday also nominated Philipp Kohlschreiber, Michael Berrer and Philipp Petzschner.

World number two Rafael Nadal spearheads a strong Spanish team. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.