Photo: Giuliano Dalla VecchiaFrancesca Schiavone (ITA)
Russia and Czech Republic continued to dominate their respective Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round ties on Sunday as they both sealed a place in the World Group semifinals.
Having enjoyed a routine day at the office on Saturday, Russia were actually made to work hard for their eventual victory over Spain after Maria Sharapova ruled herself out of the reverse singles. Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Sharapova's replacement Nadia Petrova 60 63, but Svetlana Kuznetsova got the hosts over the line with a hard fought win against Silvia Soler-Espinosa 62 46 63.
Petra Kvitova was the hero for the Czechs after coming from behind once again to win the battle of the No. 1s against Sabine Lisicki 67(2) 64 61. The result put Czech Republic into an unassailable 3-0 lead, although the Germans restored some pride by claiming the dead rubbers.
The remaining World Group first round ties both went down to the deciding doubles rubber. Serbia clinched a historic away victory over Belgium - their first ever World Group win - and Italy finally saw off the challenge of Ukraine at home.
The World Group semifinal line-up sees Russia host Serbia and Czech Republic at home against Italy. Both these ties are a repeat of meetings in 2010... Russia edged past Serbia 3-2 in Belgrade and Italy hammered Czech Republic 5-0 in Rome.
The World Group II first round ties also drew to a conclusion on Sunday. USA and Japan both recorded whitewash 5-0 wins over Belarus and Slovenia respectively, Slovak Republic overcame France 3-2, and Australia defeated Switzerland 4-1.
Click the link below to view full reports from each tie on the Fed Cup website.
World Group first round
- Russia 3-2 Spain
- Belgium 2-3 Serbia
- Italy 3-2 Ukraine
- Germany 1-4 Czech Republic
World Group II first round
- USA 5-0 Belarus
- Japan 5-0 Slovenia
- Slovak Republic 3-2 France
- Switzerland 1-4 Australia