Russia keeps Hopman Cup spot with second replacement

Number one seeds Russia have Hopman Cup tournament director Paul McNamee to thank as they officially retained their place in the mixed round-robin event.

After frantically scouring Europe, McNamee has found a last-minute replacement for the injured Teimuraz Gabashvili, who is ranked 132, in the form of world number 299 Yuri Schukin.

Gabashvili himself was a replacement for Russia’s initial male player, current world number 12 and reigning Australian Open champion, Marat Safin.

However, the 20-year-old Gabashvili was also forced to withdraw due to an injury to his ankle he sustained while playing in Doha.

Schukin, 26, was on his way to Australia to attempt to qualify for the Australian Open, but will now stop off at Perth for some unexpected, yet welcoming, match practice.

If Russia were unable to find a male player to take part in the mixed team tournament, the door would have opened for China, who lost to the Netherlands in the play-off for the final spot, to make their first ever appearance at the Hopman Cup.

Russia remain number one seeds, but with their new recruit Schukin ranked so lowly, increased pressure will be on 2004 US Open champion and former world number four Svetlana Kuznetsova to carry the team.

The Russians open their campaign on Tuesday January 3 against the US pairing of Lisa Raymond and Taylor Dent, who will already have opened their campaign against Serbia and Montenegro on Sunday.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!