Stosur to skip Fed Cup world group play off

World number six Samantha Stosur has opted out of Australia's Fed Cup World Group playoff against Ukraine to concentrate on preparing for the clay-court season.

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 in release from Tennis Australia on Wednesday.

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

Australia has 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.