BBC Sporttennis

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Related BBC sites

Page last updated at 20:44 GMT, Sunday, 26 April 2009 21:44 UK

Italy to face US in Fed Cup final

Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani, and Roberta Vinci celebrate their win over Russia in the Fed Cup semi-final
Italy's quartet celebrate at the Castellaneta Marina in Rome

Italy set up a Fed Cup final against the United States after a shock 4-1 win over defending champions Russia.

Victories for Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the doubles and Francesca Schiavone in the singles ended Russia's hopes of a third consecutive title.

The US staged a superb comeback to beat the Czech Republic 3-2 in the other semi-final in Brno.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber beat Iveta Benesova and Kveta Peschke in the final doubles match.

US rookie Alexa Glatch, ranked 114th in the world, levelled the tie at 2-2 with a 6-2 6-1 win over Petra Kvitova.

And Mattek-Sands, who lost both of her singles ties, atoned for her earlier defeats alongside world number one doubles player Huber, fighting back from a set down for a 2-6 7-6 6-1 victory.

606: DEBATE
Stuart

Russia, trailing 2-0 at the start of the day, reduced the deficit when world number nine Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Flavia Pennetta 6-0 6-3.

Italy's victory was assured when Schiavone beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 4-6 6-2, with Errani and Vinci completing the rout with a 1-6 6-3 6-4 win over Nadia Petrova and Pavlyuchenkova.

"These girls will go down in the history of Italian tennis," said Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti.



Print Sponsor


see also
Italy claim advantage in Fed Cup
25 Apr 09 |  Tennis
Injured Zvonareva out of Fed Cup
24 Apr 09 |  Tennis


related bbc links:

related internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites