Two singles victories of Roberta Vinci, including the deciding one today, and one triumph of Sara Errani, ensured Italy’s place in the 50th anniversary Fed Cup final which will take place on November 2-3 in Italy.

The Fed Cup semifinal tie between Italy and the Czech Republic was extended to Monday and the team playing on home soil capitalized on the commanding 2-0 lead they earned on Saturday. Czech Petra Kvitova kept her country in the game with a victory over Sara Errani on Sunday, but Roberta Vinci battled past Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 to earn Italy a 3-1 triumph. After sealing the opening set and leading 2-0 in the second, Vinci handed the momentum to Safarova and allowed the Czech to serve for the second set at 5-3. Having missed that chance, Safarova forced a decider in the tiebreak. In the third set Vinci gave up a 2-0 lead but then broke serve to lead 5-3 and brought her team to victory on the third match point.

Italy’s opponent in the Fed Cup final will be Russia, whose team astonishingly recovered from a 0-2 deficit that pressured them after the first day of action against the Slovak Republic. (via Fed Cup)

Russia managed to become the first nation to come back from 0-2 down in a Fed Cup World Group semifinal, by beating Slovakia 3-2. After Day 1 action, Russia had the worrying deficit, but now one of the most lucrative Fed Cup countries is closer to its fifth Fed Cup title.

Yesterday, Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and Daniela Hantuchova were victorious against Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Maria Kirilenko, but in today’s reverse singles, Kirilenko kept her country’s hopes alive, recovering from a 1-3 deficit to overcome Cibulkova 7-5 6-1, then Ekaterina Makarova, Pavlyuchenkova’s replacement, won two consecutive three-setters – 6-3 4-6 6-4 over Hantuchova in singles and 4-6 6-3 6-1 with Elena Vesnina in doubles against Cibulkova and Hantuchova .

Russia's opponent in the final will be the winner of the semifinal between the Czech Republic and Italy, to be determined on Monday. Right now Italy leads 2-1. Czech Petra Kvitova kept her team alive with today's 2-6 6-2 6-0 win over Sara Errani, following yesterday's Czech loss of both singles rubbers. (via Fed Cup)

After Saturday’s Fed Cup semifinal action, Italy leads the Czech Republic 2-0 and Slovakia leads Russia 2-0.

Two-time defending champion Czech Republic are looking for payback for their 2010 semifinal loss to Italy, but today they lost both their singles matches, as Sara Errani defeated Czech Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-2 and Roberta Vinci beat Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-1 in a rematch of the recent Katowice final which was also won by Vinci. In tomorrow’s action in Palermo, Kvitova faces Errani, whom she’s 4-0 up against in head-to-head, while Vinci plays Safarova, whom she leads 2-1.

Meanwhile in Moscow, guest Slovak Republic was victorious against the host, as Dominika Cibulkova edged Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has a new coach in Martina Hingis, 5-7 6-1 6-4, and Daniela Hantuchova defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-4. In Sunday’s reverse singles, Kirilenko plays Cibulkova, while Pavlyuchenkova plays Hantuchova, and in both cases the Russians lead in head-to-heads, 2-1 and 5-1 respectively. (photos via Fed Cup)

The latest coaching novelty is that five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis is now working full-time with Russian Anastasia Pavlychenkova, with whom she has been cooperating as part of the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy, but this is the first time that she’s her personal coach. Hingis and the world No.19 Pavlyuchenkova are currently in Moscow, preparing for this weekend's Russia vs. Slovakia Fed Cup World Group semifinal clash in Sports Center Krylatskoye.

The Hingis-Pavlyuchenkova cooperation is planned for the 2013 claycourt season. This month the 21-year-old Pavlyuchenkova won the Monterrey title, beating top seed Angelique Kerber in the final. (source: Tennis.com, photo via Beyond the Baseline)

The Fed Cup weekend action determined the teams that will clash in the World Group semifinals set for April 20-21: Slovakia vs. Russia and Czech Republic vs. Italy.

Eleven years after helping Slovakia win the 2002 Fed Cup title, Daniela Hantuchova won both her singles rubbers against Serbia, which was short of Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, and helped Slovakia clinch a 3-2 victory. Those two losses include a walkover in doubles and Dominika Cibulkova's retirement with a calf injury against Vesna Dolonc, when the Slovak was leading 6-4 5-4.

Russia scored a 3-2 against Japan, when the triumphant doubles team of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova defeated Misaki Doi and Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-2 in the deciding doubles. In singles, Kimiko Date-Krumm had lost both her singles rubbers, against Maria Kirilenko and against Ekaterina Makarova, while Ayumi Morita won both hers, against Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Read more »