Krakow: Former world number one Maria Sharapova sent Russia into the semi-finals of the Fed Cup on Sunday as she defeated Poland`s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 7-5 to give her country an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Following Sharapova`s victory over sister Urszula Radwanska in straight sets on Saturday, combined with a three set win for veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova over Agnieszka, Russia are safely into the last four.
In front of a partisan home crowd of some 15,000, Sharapova, who recently lost the Australian Open final against Serena Williams, improved her record against the world number eight to 12 wins against just two defeats.
Agnieszka saved two match points at 2-5 down in the second set to draw level at 5-5 but ran out of steam as five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova closed out the match in 1hr 46mins.
Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 2-6 6-2 in Krakow earlier in the day as four-time champions Russia moved closer to securing a last-four berth.
Sharapova is competing in just her fourth Fed Cup tie since her 2008 debut as she bids to earn her place in the national team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Moscow.
All players must make themselves available for the Fed Cup in order to be considered for Olympic selection and world No 2 Sharapova wasted little time in seeing off Radwanska.
Kuznetsova had already beaten the elder Radwanska sister in 10 of their 14 matches and Kuznetsova claimed victory with an ace on her first match point after two hours and 17 minutes.
Sunday's opening reverse singles will be between Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska, with the Polish player knowing she must win to keep the tie alive.
Advantage
Sharapova holds an 11-2 advantage in meetings between the two and has not lost to Radwanska since the Miami final in 2012.
"It was important to start strong. I had a little bit of a let-down in the second set and she got a bit steadier," said Sharapova.
"I'm happy to get through in straight sets."
Elsewhere, 2013 champions Italy lead France 2-0.
Sara Errani defeated Caroline Garcia 7-6 7-5 to give Italy the lead in Genoa before world No 31 Camila Giorgi made it 2-0 with a 6-4 6-2 win over Alize Cornet.
In Stuttgart, Australia began well against Germany as world No 54 Jarmila Gajdosova defeated10th-ranked Angelique Kerber 4-6 6-2 6-4.
But the hosts levelled when Andrea Petkovic won a three-hour epic with Samantha Stosur 6-4 3-6 12-10.
In the other quarter-final, champions Czech Republic won both Saturday’s rubbers against Canada in Quebec.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was ruled out through injury but Karolina Pliskova and Tereza Smitkova won their openers ion her absence, defeating Francoise Abanda and Gabriela Dabrowski, respectively.
Meanwhile, in World Group II, record 17-time champions USA eased to a 2-0 lead over Argentina in Buenos Aires thanks to the Williams sisters.
Venus defeated Paula Ormaechea 6-3 6-2 before world No 1 Serena defeated Maria Irigoyen 7-5 6-0.
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