Russian Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev and his coaches criticized the decision of No. 39 Ksenia Pervak to represent Kazakhstan rather than Russia. Pervak, 20, joined a host of Russia-born players to switch allegiance to Kazakhstan. Tarpishchev said that he believes she made the decision so she could secure a place at the London 2012 Olympics, but Pervak still has to meet a number of requirements in order to achieve eligibility. She’ll have to play for Kazakhstan in its first 2012 Fed Cup tie and then ask the Kazakhstan Federation to appeal to the ITF Olympic Committee citing special circumstances, which in her case would be a change of nationality.
Vladimir Kamelzon, a coach of the Russian team, told RIA Novosti. "I'm upset and angry about Pervak's switch to the Kazakhstan national team, I just can't understand Pervak's decision, and I will never accept it. He added that Pervak was "the personification of the Russian tennis method of developing top-class players.”
Pervak has never played Fed Cup for Russia. Other Russian players who have made the switch to Kazakhstan include Yaroslava Shvedova, Galina Voskoboeva, Mikhail Kukushkin, Andrey Golubev and Evgeny Korolev.