China beat France

The former Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champions held their nerve in the second-set tiebreak to send China into their first Fed Cup semi-final.

China, who led France 2-0 on day one after Li Na and Peng Shuai won their opening singles rubbers, had to rely on their top doubles pairing to seal the win after Razzano and Dechy earlier won the reverse singles over Li and Yan.

World number 27 Razzano's win in the day's opening match gave France some crucial momentum.

"It was a very good match altogether. It was very difficult to lose the first set. But in my head it was never finished. I know I'm fit enough to play three sets," Razzano said.

Dechy later beat Yan 6-3 6-2 in the second reverse singles. France fielded a second-string side against China's strongest line-up after Amelie Mauresmo and Marion Bartoli opted out of the tie.

Anabel Medina Garrigues blew away Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-1 to send Spain into the semi-finals with a 3-2 win over the 2006 champions.

Spain, dominant in the 1990s with five Fed Cup titles, will face China, 3-2 winners over France, in the semi-finals on April 26 and 27. A venue will be decided shortly.

"It depends on what surface we play on but it will be very different. It's going to be pretty open," Medina Garrigues said after having given Spain an unassailable 3-0 lead before Italy restored some pride in the two dead rubbers.

Schiavone started with an ace against Medina Garrigues but went long or wide on the next four points to surrender the first game.

The set looked to be slipping away from her until the Italian number one broke back in the eighth game with a controlled volley down the line.

The home crowd roared with delight but their sombre mood quickly returned when Medina Garrigues stole the next game and then comfortably served out the set.

Spain's world number 30 broke to go 2-1 up in the second set after Schiavone had two close calls from the same line judge go against her.

The Italian remonstrated up close to the male baseline judge after he decided not to call the ball out for a second time.

Television replays were inconclusive and when Schiavone won the next point she screamed in the judge's direction.

The dogged Schiavone was inspirational in Italy's run to last year's final but this time her anger failed to inspire her and Medina Garrigues comfortably closed out the tie with her third win out of three against the Italian.

"We are very surprised about the score but we played very well," Medina Garrigues said.

Schiavone played down her row with the line judge and said the Spaniard deserved her win.

"I said nothing (to the line judge)," she joked. "If it is near the line it can be debateable but it was clearly over.

"After two years of great things it ends here. It was great tennis from her point of view and I made many errors."

Italy debutant Sara Errani defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino 5-7 6-4 6-0 in the dead fourth singles rubber before pairing up with Tathiana Garbin to beat Nuria Llagostera Vives and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4 6-3 in the doubles.

The visitors went 2-0 up after Saturday's singles with Llagostera Vives surprisingly beating world number 23 Schiavone 7-6 3-6 6-2 after play was held up for nearly an hour when rain leaked through the roof of the PalaVesuvio arena.

Medina Garrigues then hammered Flavia Pennetta 6-2 6-3.

Defending champions Russia completed a 4-1 victory over Israel in their after winning all three rubbers on Sunday.

Russia face the winners of the tie between the United States and Germany in the semi-finals on April 26-27. Israel will play to avoid relegation from the world group.

Russian world number seven Anna Chakvetadze secured the tie after seeing off a brave challenge from Israel's Tzipi Obziler 6-4 6-2.

Dinara Safina and Elena Vesnina completed the victory by beating Shahar Peer and Obziler in the dead doubles rubber 6-0 1-6 6-4.

Chakvetadze came back from 3-0 down in the first set and shut out the chanting from a hostile home crowd who sensed they might be able to unsettle her.

The Russian was too good for her 34-year-old opponent who was never able to threaten her on the important points.

"I started off slowly but then I managed to get into the match," said Chakvetadze, who was critical of the crowd.

"I think they (the crowd) should be a little morerespectful... all we ask that they are a little more quiet during the points."

Obziler said she had done her best but was beaten by a better player.

"I lost the momentum after a good start, perhaps I could have done some things better but today proved the difference in standard between us," the Israeli said.

Earlier, Maria Sharapova crushed Peer 6-1 6-1 to give the Russians a 2-1 lead in the tie much to the disappointment of the 5,000 boisterous home fans.

The Israeli number one had no answer to the Australian Open champion's powerful groundstrokes and Sharapova broke Peer six times to win in an hour and 14 minutes.

On Saturday, Sharapova beat Obziler to level the tie after Peer had overcome Dinara Safina.

Sharapova said she was not surprised by the outcome of her match against Peer, ranked 17th in the world.

"I have a good past record against her and I was not surprised... I hit a very powerful flat ball and she is more defensive, so it does not surprise me," the world number five said.

Peer agreed she was beaten by the better player but did not think the match was as one-sided as the scoreline suggested.

"She put real pressure on me from the start and didn't give me a chance to breathe, she won all the important points but it was really tougher than that," Peer said.

The tie between the United States and Germany looks poised for a likely Monday finish when play was delayed by steady overnight and morning rain on Sunday.

The scheduled start was put back by 90 minutes, although the chance of any play at all on Sunday was bleak.

Conditions are expected to remain wet and windy for the rest of the day at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club with a brighter, drier forecast for Monday.

The five-rubber tie is deadlocked at 1-1 after Fed Cup debutant Ashley Harkleroad spared the blushes for the U.S. by crushing Germany's Tatjana Malek 6-1 6-3 in Saturday's second singles match.

German teenager Sabine Lisicki, also a rookie in the team competition, had stunned former world number one Lindsay Davenport 6-1 7-5 in the opening encounter.

Davenport's shock defeat ended a run of 19 consecutive wins by the American in Fed Cup singles matches.