Sharapova's journey from Melbourne to Krakow for Fed Cup

After losing to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final on Saturday, Maria Sharapova made no secret that she wasn't exactly looking forward to her long

Courtney Nguyen | Feb 4, 2015

Sharapova's journey from Melbourne to Krakow for Fed Cup /

After losing to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final on Saturday, Maria Sharapova made no secret that she wasn't exactly looking forward to her long trek to Krakow, Poland, for Fed Cup. Sharapova has played just three Fed Cup ties for Russia, but since the ITF has linked a player's Olympic eligibility to their Fed Cup duties, Sharapova -- much like all top players -- is obliged to throw her hat in the Fed Cup ring.

"I'm very much looking forward to the 30-hour flight I'm taking to Krakow tomorrow," Sharapova said on Saturday. "A very convenient travel itinerary, too. It's like minus eight [degrees], so that's even better. Love the climate, love the travel," Sharapova said laughing.

It's all made more amusing given Sharapova's history with current Russia Fed Cup captain Anastasia Myskina. Myskina once threatened to quit Fed Cup if Sharapova was invited to play. Myskina took issue with Sharapova's father, Yuri, and it was up to the captain, Shamil Tarpischev to smooth things out. "If she joins our team next season, you won't see me there for sure," Myskina said back in 2004. "I do not want to be on a team with people who do not respect me."

Myskina retired in 2007 and took over the Fed Cup captaincy in 2014 for Tarpischev. She is the only Russian player to hold a winning record against Sharapova. If you can base it on this photo, whatever was between them when they shared a court seems to be behind them:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/wtaenespanol/status/562994261386616833]

Maria has probably had better weeks, after playing a great match, losing to Serena and then hopping on a plane for a 30-hour trek to ice-cold Poland to play for Myskina against AgnieszkaRadwanska.

She has been live-tweeting her long journey from Melbourne to Krakow. It's been very entertaining:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/561725291169861633]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/561754312565460992]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/561905095005048832]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/562147278190698496]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/562205469264334848]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/562276746444431360]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/562531036962521088]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/562857729187131393]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/562949995603984384]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/563045468616544257]

Published Feb 4, 2015

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.