Russia's recent dominance of the Fed Cup came to a grinding halt in Italy in April 2009, when a team lacking their biggest stars, Dinara Safina and Maria Sharapova, crashed to a semi-final defeat against the hosts.

The Russians, apparently able to pick from an embarrassment of riches in the world's top 10, had become increasingly powerful on the Fed Cup stage and to nobody's great surprise they had walked away with four of the previous five titles.

However, their inability to draw on the likes of world number one Safina or Sharapova who has played a solitary Fed Cup match, in Israel in 2008, in her entire career cost them dearly.

The same could also be said for the United States. Venus Williams may have played 17 rubbers in the competition over the years, but sister Serena remains distinctly cool on the idea, having played and won only seven times.

In their absence a team led by American number three Bethanie Mattek edged past the Czech Republic, but in the process underlined the struggle the Fed Cup faces to retain its headline-grabbing names and thus its importance in the calendar.

The Fed Cup has never quite held the same historic significance as its male equivalent, the Davis Cup; although the way lesser tennis nations such as Italy and Belgium were embracing the concept augured well for the future.

There was also renewed hope that Great Britain could soon make their debuts in the World Group, with Anne Keothavong having broken into the world's top 100 and hotly pursued by Melanie South and Katie O'Brien.