THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON -- Anna Chakvetadze and Svetlana Kuznetsova led Russia to a sweep of the opening singles Saturday and a 2-0 lead over the United States in the Fed Cup semifinals. Chakvetadze put Russia ahead with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Vania King on indoor clay before Kuznetsova defeated Ahsha Rolle 6-2, 6-1. Spain took a 2-0 lead against China to also move to within one win of a place in the final. Nineteen-year-old Carla Suarez Navarro, ranked No. 132 and 64 places below her opponent, gave Spain a surprise lead by beating Peng Shuai 6-3, 7-6 (4) before the more experienced Nuria Llagostera Vives downed Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-4. Russia and Spain now need just a single win each in Sunday's reverse singles and doubles to earn a place in the Sept. 13-14 final. China needs to win all three if it is to become the first Asian nation to make the Fed Cup final. In the playoffs, Amelie Mauresmo and Virginie Razzano won their singles matches to give France a 2-0 lead at Japan and make it the favourite to retain its place in the World Group. Serbia also took a 2-0 lead over bitter rival Croatia, with Jelena Jankovic beating Nika Ozegovic 6-1, 6-2 and Ana Jovanovic overcoming Jelena Kostanic-Tosic 6-4, 7-5. Jovanovic replaced Serbia's top-ranked player Ana Ivanovic, who pulled out of the opening singles with a viral infection. Argentina and Germany were split at 1-1, with Israel and Czech Republic also tied 1-1. Chakvetadze opened strongly in Moscow and needed just one break in the fifth game to take the opening set. The second seemed to follow a similar pattern when the Russian player broke King in the fifth game for a 4-2 lead, but two double faults by Chakvetadze handed a break to King for 4-4. But the seventh-ranked Russian broke straight back. King then saved two match points at 4-5 and 15-40 down before going to 5-5 and forced two break points of her own in the 12th game. Chakvetadze went down 40-15 but saved both points and closed out the match. "When she saved two match points I was really disappointed," Chakvetadze said. "I lost concentration. Today, she played very consistently. She did not create anything special but she played consistently through the whole of the match." King was more competitive than when she lost to Chakvetadze last year in the first match of a 3-2 semifinal loss in Stowe, Vermont. "(But) obviously I'm very disappointed that I've lost," King said. Kuznetsova then dominated Rolle, who was making her Fed Cup debut. The fourth-ranked player broke twice in the first set and won five consecutive games in the second to put Russia within one win of its fourth Fed Cup final in five years. The United States has won a record 17 Fed Cup titles, but its last triumph came in 2000. Russia has won three titles in the last four years and has not lost at home since hosting France in 2003. Russia has also won the last two of the teams' six meetings, with the Americans taking the previous four. Mauresmo coasted to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Ayumi Morita in Tokyo, while Razzano beat Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 7-5. Mauresmo will face Sugiyama in the opening reverse singles match on Sunday, while Razzano is slated to play Morita. Mauresmo has an 8-0 all-time record against Sugiyama, while Razzano and Morita will play for the first time. The winning nation will remain in the World Group in 2009, while the loser goes back to regional play. Gisela Dulko overpowered Germany's Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-2 to give Argentina an early lead in Buenos Aires before Martina Muller coasted to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Jorgelina Cravero to pull Germany level. "I played a more steady game and she gave me a lot of points with her errors," said the 47th-ranked Dulko, Argentina's top player. "But I know clay is not her favourite surface." At Ramat Hasharon, Israel, Petra Kvitova put the visiting team ahead with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Shahar Peer, but Tzipora Obziler levelled it at 1-1 with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 win over Lucie Safarova.
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