Russia in Fed Cup final

Anna Chakvetadze beats Yan Zi of China 6-1, 6-2 to give the defending champions an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Russia in Fed Cup final

Anna Chakvetadze put Russia into the Fed Cup semi-finals on Sunday defeating Yan Zi of China 6-1, 6-2 to give the defending champions an unassailable 3-0 lead.

On Saturday world No.7 Svetlana Kuznetsova put Russia into the lead, beating Yan Zi in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, while Australian Open semi-finalist Elena Dementieva made it 2-0 defeating Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-0.

Chakvetadze, currently 19th in the WTA rankings, clinched victory in one hour seven minutes to record her third win over Yan Zi in four head-to-head meetings.

"I was a bit nervous as it was very important for me to win today to support my teammates' successes on Saturday," Chakvetadze said. "I also had problems with my serve."

"But everything went all right in the end and I'm happy with that."

The 21-year-old Russian opened confidently breaking her opponent twice for a commanding 4-0 advantage before the 24-year-old Yan got on the board.

Chakvetadze grabbed another break in the seventh game to take the opening set in 29 minutes.

In the second set the players traded breaks early on but Chakvetadze still looked the more precise and confident even though she collected 10 double faults in the match.

She produced two more breaks of serve to win the match on her first matchpoint ensuring Russia qualified for the last four of the Fed Cup.

The Chinese effort was hampered by the absence of their number one player Zheng Jie due to a wrist injury she suffered in an Australian Open fourth round clash with Kuznetsova last month.

The Russians are targeting their fifth Fed Cup title in six years.

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