Americans Lindsay Davenport and Ashley Harkleroad won their respective singles rubbers on Monday to give the US women a first-round Fed Cup victory over Germany and a semi-final date with Russia.
Davenport defeated 115th-ranked German substitute Julia Goerges 6-1, 6-2 and Harkleroad then downed 19-year-old Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 7-5 to give the American hosts an insurmountable edge and a doubles victory completed a 4-1 tie triumph.
Davenport and Lisa Raymond defeated Tatiana Malek and Anna-Lena Gronefeld 6-2, 6-0 in 41 minutes in the doubles dead rubber. Rain washed out play on Sunday, delaying the decisive matches to Monday after a 1-1 split in Saturday's opening encounters.
Harkleroad broke for the third time in the second set to seize a 6-5 lead on an errant forehand by Lisicki, who upset Davenport on Saturday, and held serve for the US to advance into April's semi-finals against title holders Russia.
The Russians, powered by Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova, eliminated Israel 4-1 in a tie that concluded on Sunday. China will meet Spain in the other Fed Cup semi-final tie. The Chinese edged France 3-2 at Beijing last weekend thanks to a decisive doubles win while the Spaniards downed hosts Italy 3-2 after taking the first three matches.
German captain Barbara Rittner inserted Goerges to face Davenport on Sunday instead of 92nd-ranked Tatiana Malek, who had been 4-0 in Fed Cup play before Harkleroad trounced her 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday to pull the Americans level.
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