25 April,2010 03:45 AM IST | | AFP
Reigning Fed Cup champions Italy took control of their semi-final against the Czech Republic in Rome on Saturday by winning the opening two singles rubbers.
Top seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta ground out a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Lucie Hradecka before Francesca Schiavone thrashed Czech number one Lucie Safarova 6-0, 6-2 on the Roman clay.
Should Italy progress to the final, they will meet either the USA, their beaten opponents in last year's title match, or Russia, the team who defeated them in 2007. Aiming for their fourth final in five years, Italy were off to the perfect start despite the brief inconvenience of a rain delay.
Pennetta took her time to get going and slumped to a 4-1 first set deficit before turning it around with five games on the trot.
