Russia and Spain eased past their semifinal opponents on Sunday, and will face each other in September's Fed Cup final.

Russia and Spain quickly finished off the job they started on Saturday, with Vera Zvonareva beating U.S. player Vania King 4-6 6-3 6-2 to give Russia an unassailable 3-0 lead in the tie and Nuria Llagostera Vives overcoming China's Peng Shuai 6-4 6-4 to do the same for Spain. Read more »

Serbia’s world No.2 Ana Ivanovic wasn’t able to play the opening singles of the Fed Cup tie against Croatia due to viral infection.

However, her much less experienced compatriot, Ana Jovanovic, ranked 268th in the world, managed to defeat Croatia’s world No.152 Jelena Kostanic-Tosic 6-4 7-5. The second singles on Saturday included Serbia’s world No.5 Jelena Jankovic and Croatia’s world No.150 Nika Ozegovic. The Serb won 6-1 6-2.

This means that Serbia leads 2-0 against Croatia after the opening day. (image via Great Tennis Photos)

Defending champions Russia won both singles rubbers against the United States in Moscow and came closer to their fourth Fed Cup final in five years, while five-time winners Spain made just as successful start in their semifinal against China in Beijing.

In Moscow, Anna Chakvetadze beat Vania King 6-4 7-5 before Svetlana Kuznetsova saw off Fed Cup debutant Ahsha Rolle 6-2 6-1. In Beijing, Carla Suarez-Navarro upset Peng Shuai 6-3 7-6 (7-4) while Nuria Llagostera Vives cruised past Zheng Jie 6-3 6-4.

Russia and Spain are now one win away from meeting each other in September's final. (via BBC, photo from Fed Cup)

The United States and Russia will face each other in the Fed Cup semifinals during the weekend. The US team is significantly weakened with no Serena and Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport to give their share. Vania King, ranked 115th, is the top player on the US team. Russia, on the other hand, has three Top 20 players on their team. Plus, the tie is played in Moscow’s Luzhniki indoor arena and the Russians are undefeated at home since 2003. Read more »

Maria Sharapova will skip the Fed Cup semifinal against the USA in Moscow this month, and instead of her, Svetlana Kuznetsova will lead the Russian team.

World No.5 Sharapova and No.4 Kuznetsova are very busy, and both have the goal of taking the first spot in the rankings this year. As Sharapova played the last tie, against Israel, now it’s Kuznetsova’s turn. That has been the plan, and it’s fair enough.

The American team has been significantly weakened as neither Venus nor Serena Williams will play against Russia in the 26-27 April tie.

Russia have been the competition's most consistent team in recent years, winning the trophy on three of the last four occasions. (source: BBC)