Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova battled back from a set down to defeat Sabine Lisicki as Russia took a comfortable 2-0 lead over Germany in the Fed Cup World Group semi-final on Saturday.
Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier beat Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-4 at the red clay court of Adler Arena as four-time champions Russia edged closer towards the final.
The 23-year-old Pavlyuchenkova won 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in two hours 28 minutes to record her second win over Lisicki, who is 19th in the WTA rankings, in as many meetings.
“It was a very hard match,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
“I feel worn out but I’m really happy to give my team this win today.
Germany’s 25-year-old broke twice to her opponent’s once to snatch the opening set in 42 minutes.
Pavlyuchenkova, 38th in the world, started the second set with an immediate break for a 2-0 lead but Lisicki broke back in the 10th game to level at 5-5.
But in the tiebreak that followed, the Russian was more precise and levelled at one set all.
In the deciding set, Pavlyuchenkova moved up a gear, breaking twice from the start for a comfortable 4-0 lead before Lisicki chalked up her first game in the set, also with a break.
The players traded breaks again before the Russian finally held her nerve, and serve, to close out the victory that gave her side a commanding 2-0 lead.
At Ostrava…
Lucie Safarova and Petra Kvitova gave holders the Czech Republic a 2-0 lead over France in the opening rubbers on Saturday.
On the hardcourt of the CEZ Arena in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava, world number 13 and Czech number two Safarova took an hour and 58 minutes to beat 29th-ranked Caroline Garcia 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1.
World number four Kvitova then saw off 58th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 21 minutes to take the Czechs within a point of the finals.AFP
