Stosur to give Fed a miss

Stosur, who lost both her singles ties in Australia's first-round loss against champions Italy in February, said tuning up for the French Open was more important.

"I love representing Australia and it has been difficult to prioritise my immediate schedule," Stosur, who was beaten in last year's final at Roland Garros by Italy's Francesca Schiavone, said.

"But it is extremely important to me to focus on the claycourt season and get the best possible preparation for the French Open."

Australia have named world number 29 Jarmila Groth, 64th-ranked Jelena Dokic, Anastasia Rodionova (74) and Sophie Ferguson (124) for the April 16-17 tie in Melbourne.

"We are obviously disappointed that our No.1 player, Sam, will not be coming home for this tie but we respect her decision and I have faith in the other girls to get us back to the elite eight," Fed Cup captain David Taylor said.

Australia beat Ukraine 5-0 last year to progress to the top tier for the first time since 2004.