Tarpishchev, who is also the head of the Russian tennis federation and an IOC member, on Tuesday criticised the lack of communication from the US embassy and the delay in procuring his visa, a delay which the coach believes jeopardised the preparation of his players.

The veteran official also had the support of the Russian foreign office who described the delay 'beyond understanding'.

The Russian skipper named Nadia Petrova, Anna Chakvetadze, Yelena Vesnina and Alla Kudryavtseva in his squad, which will face the hosts at a specially constructed 3,000-seat venue at Stowe, Vermont in a clash for a place in the final.

Russian stars Maria Sharapova, who won Wimbledon in 2004 and last year's US Open and 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova were both unavailable due to injury.