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Italy cruises to Fed Cup singles wins

Sun, 11/07/2010 - 09:53 by Rakhi

San Diego -- Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta breezed to wins Saturday, handing Italy a commanding 2-0 lead over the United States in the Fed Cup Final.

Reigning French Open champion Schiavone quickly dispatched 18-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe 6-2, 6-4, in one of the day's matches. Pennetta downed Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, in the other.

Vandeweghe was tapped by U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez for the final over the more experienced Melanie Oudin, but the American youngster was broken four times by Schiavone in her Fed Cup debut.

Pennetta had to expend a bit more effort against Mattek-Sands but still managed to give defending champion Italy a big lead in the best-of-five final at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Pennetta starts off Fed Cup for Italy

Sat, 04/24/2010 - 09:23 by Pankaj Damin

Rome -- Defending champion Italy opted to start this weekend's semifinal series with world No. 15 Flavia Pennetta on the court against the Czech Republic.

The best-of-five semifinal will feature a pair of singles matches Saturday on an outdoor clay court in Rome. The schedule calls for reverse singles and a doubles match Sunday.

Pennetta was given the opening match against Czech Lucie Hradecka, ranked No. 74 in the world. The second singles match sends Italian Francesca Schiavone, who is ranked No. 17, against Lucie Safarova, the world No. 38.

Schiavone is coming off a clay-tournament victory last week in Spain.

Czech Republic goes to Fed Cup semis

Mon, 02/08/2010 - 09:37 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Brno, Czech Republic -- The Czech Republic gained the Fed Cup semifinals Sunday by ousting the German team with a doubles victory by Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke.

The Czech team's opponent in the semis will be defending champion Italy, which beat Ukraine in the quarters.

Hradecka and Peschke won the decisive match in the best-of-five series 6-1, 6-3 over Tatjana Malek and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

The Czechs are trying to win their sixth Fed Cup title.

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).

Russia, Serbia 1-1 at Fed Cup tennis

Sun, 02/07/2010 - 09:57 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Belgrade, Serbia -- Jelena Jankovic's 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Alisa Kleybanova Saturday pulled Serbia into a 1-1 tie with Russia at the Fed Cup quarterfinal in Belgrade.

Svetlana Kuznetsova had given Russia a 1-0 advantage with a 6-1, 6-4 rout of Ana Ivanovic, but Jankovic bounced back after losing the first set against Kleybanova.

Sunday's doubles match pits the duo of Ivanovic-Jankovic against Vera Dushevina-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and if needed, Jankovic battles Kuznetsova, while Ivanovic battles Kleybanova.

The winner plays either France of the United States in the semifinals.

Russia has won the event four times since 2004, and is 2-0 all-time against the Serbs in Fed Cup play.

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).

U.S. has 2-0 lead over France at Fed Cup

Sun, 02/07/2010 - 09:56 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Lievin, France -- Singles victories Saturday by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Melanie Oudin gave the United States a 2-0 lead over France at the Fed Cup quarterfinals.

The event at Lievin, France could end Sunday if the U.S. gets one more win.
Saturday, Mattek-Sands captured the opener with a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 win over Alize Cornet.

Oudin, the darling at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in New York last September, downed Pauline Parmentier, 6-4, 6-4, in the nightcap.

France can stay alive Sunday with a Julie Coin-Stephanie Cohen-Aloro win over the American tandem of Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber.

If necessary, Oudin faces Cornet, while Mattek-Sands meets Parmentier.

Fed Cup semifinals open Saturday

Sat, 04/25/2009 - 08:33 by Shruti Sharma

Castellaneta Marina, Italy-- Russia, trying for its third straight Fed Cup title, takes on the Italian team in the semifinals this weekend at Castellaneta Marina, Italy.

The winner of the best-of-five competition will go against the United States or Czech Republic for the championship.

The U.S. and Czech teams are playing their semifinal matches in Brno in the Czech Republic.

Russia's Anna Chakvetadze will play Flavia Pennetta and Svetlana Kuznetsova meets Francesca Schiavone in matches Saturday.

In the Czech Republic Saturday, the United States will send Bethanie Mattek-Sands against Petra Kvitova and Alexa Glatch to challenge Lucie Safarovak.

Italy scores 5-0 Fed Cup win over France

Mon, 02/09/2009 - 08:47 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Orleans, France -- A straight-set win by Flavia Pennetta Sunday was the clincher for Italy in a Fed Cup shutout quarterfinals victory over France.

Pennetta's 6-2, 6-2 decision over Alize Cornet gave the Italians an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five competition and they ended up with a 5-0 victory.

"It was a perfect match today," Pennetta said. "I hardly made any mistakes.

I was very focused on my game."

Italy got its final two points with a singles win by Sara Errani and a doubles victory by Errani and Roberta Vinci.

The Italian team will meet Russia in April in the cup semifinals. The Russians advanced with a 5-0 win over China.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.

Spain, Czech Republic 1-1 at Fed Cup

Sun, 02/08/2009 - 11:57 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Brno, Czech Republic -- Spain and the Czech Republic were 1-1 Saturday, the first day of their Fed Cup quarterfinal at Brno, Czech Republic.

Petra Kvitova gave the Czechs an early 1-0 advantage over last year's runner-up by beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-4. The overflow crowd came back to Earth, however, when Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives rallied after dropping the first set to down Iveta Benesova 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Sunday, in a doubles match, Benesova and Kveta Peschke meet Spaniards Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

The scheduled singles matchups will be Benesova-Suarez Navarro and Kvitova-Llagostera Vives.

Spain lost to Russia in last year's Fed Cup finale, but holds a 2-0 all-time advantage against the Czechs.

Italy leads France 2-0 at Fed Cup

Sun, 02/08/2009 - 11:54 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Orleans, France -- Led by Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone Saturday, Italy forged a 2-0 lead in its Fed Cup quarterfinal against France at Orleans, France.

The two nations are meeting in the Fed Cup for the fourth time in six years, with the Italians winning the last two matchups.

Pennetta rallied Saturday from a service break down in both of the last two sets to defeat former World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo 2-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.
Schiavone followed with a 6-1, 2-6, 8-6 win over Alize Cornet.

Sunday's doubles matchup pits the French duo of Severine Bremond and Nathalie Dechy against Italy's Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

If a singles match is needed to settle a winner, the schedule calls for Cornet-Pennetta and Mauresmo battles Schiavone if necessary.

U.S. 1, Argentina 1 at Fed Cup

Sun, 02/08/2009 - 11:49 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Surprise, Ariz. -- The United States and Argentina are knotted at 1-1 after the first day of their Fed Cup quarterfinal in Surprise, Ariz.

The U.S. took a 1-0 advantage when Jill Craybas cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over 20-year-old Betina Jozami in the afternoon match, but Gisela Dulko topped 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, playing in her first-ever Fed Cup match, 6-2, 7-5, pulling Argentina even heading into Sunday's reverse singles.

Sunday, the U.S. duo of 30-year-old Julie Ditty and Liezel Huber, 32, face Argentina's 17-year-old Aranza Salut and Soledad Esperon.

Serena and Venus Williams, Fed Cup mainstays, decided not to play this week, but the United States leads the all-time series with Argentina 2-1.

The winner faces either the Czech Republic or Spain in the semifinals in April.