The two Fed Cup finalists have been decided; Italy will play Russia! The 2006, 2009 and 2010 champions Italy defeated the 2011 and 2012 champions Czech Republic at home on the clay 3-1. 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 champions Russia narrowly passed 2002 champions Slovakia 3-2 at home on indoor clay.
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Vinci had recently beaten (8) Kvitova in the Katowice final 76(2) 61. The Czech had completely fell apart on the indoor clay as she struggled to contest with her opponents consistent serving and back court variation of spin and slice. The same formula proved successful again as she took Petra apart 64 61, breaking her opponent in all of her service games. Earlier, (7) Errani had opened the tie with a 64 62 win over Safarova. The following day, rain postponed play for some time, but as the players finally got underway, Errani looked headed for victory, leading Kvitova 62 21. Suddenly though, the Czech caught fire and dominated the proceedings, winning eleven straight games to win 26 62 60 to remain undefeated against Errani. The remaining days play was cancelled, so Vinci had to seal the deal on Monday. She wasted several chances in the second set but ultimately took out the defending champions with a 63 67(2) 63 win over Safarova.
The Russian's became the first team to ever recover from 0-2 deficit to win a World Group Semi Final. Cibulkova had edged Martina Hingis's new student Pavlyuchenkova 57 61 64 and Hantuchova had dominated Kirilenko 62 64. However, the following day Kirilenko cruised past Cibulkova 75 61 and Makarova narrowly beat Hantuchova 63 46 64. Therefore, the doubles decided the encounter and it was the top ten pairing of Vesnina and Makarova who edged the Slovaks 46 63 61.
Elsewhere, (1) Serena, (4) Radwanska and (9) Stosur went unbeaten to aid the teams to victory. (6) Kerber split her matches, winning one but losing the other 75 75 to Ivanovic, though the Germans still won.
