Czech Republic, Russia advance to Fed Cup World Group finals
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - Defending champion Czech Republic reached the fourth Fed Cup final in five years by defeating France after Petra Kvitova won the first reverse singles on Sunday.
In a match of two big-hitting players, fourth-ranked Kvitova beat 29th-ranked Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-4 for an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the semifinals.
After failing to serve out the match at 5-2, Kvitova converted her first match point in her following service game with a passing forehand shot.
''It was tough,'' said Kvitova who had 25 winners to Garcia's 18. ''Our play is the same. Garcia played a very solid game.''
The Czechs will now face Russia in the final in November with a chance of winning their fourth title in five years.
Russia held off the Germans on Sunday and advanced with a 3-2 win. The Russians led 2-0 after the opening day, but Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber claimed singles victories over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova respectively.
Petkovic triumphed 6-1, 6-2 and Kerber rolled to a 6-1, 6-0, seemingly giving the Germans all the momentum.
The Russians rallied, though, and took the deciding doubles match when Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina beat Lisicki and Petkovic 6-2, 6-3.
*With files from theScore