SOCHI, Russia (AP) β Russia is on the brink of a place in the Fed Cup final after Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki for a 2-0 lead Saturday in the World Group semifinals.
Pavlyuchenkova saved a match point in the second set before going on to beat Lisicki 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 after Svetlana Kuznetsova had earlier beaten Julia Goerges in straight sets in the opening rubber.
The result leaves Russia needing one win from Sunday’s three matches to reach the final and challenge for a first Fed Cup title since 2008.
With the Czech Republic leading France 2-0 in the other semifinal after Saturday’s play, there is potential for a rematch of the 2011 final, when the Czechs beat Russia in Moscow.
Kuznetsova won 6-4, 6-4, taking advantage of erratic play by Goerges, who landed just 53 percent of her first serves and made 45 unforced errors against 27 for the Russian.
Kuznetsova, who became Russia’s most successful Fed Cup player ever with 27 wins, said she and Goerges had struggled with the slippery indoor clay surface at Sochi’s Adler Arena, which was last year’s Olympic speedskating venue.
“It was very difficult to move,” she said. “Maybe we didn’t look like we were moving very comfortably.”
Goerges said she had been “very nervous” to play the first match and acknowledged that her approach had been too aggressive, allowing errors into her game as she tried to finish points early.
Sunday sees the reverse singles before a final doubles match pits Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic against the Russian duo of Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva.
Zvonareva replaced second-ranked Maria Sharapova, who withdrew from the match Tuesday with a leg injury.
