KRAKOV, Poland — Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova sent Russia into the semifinals of the Fed Cup 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 Saturday, combined with a three set win for veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova over Agnieszka, Russia is 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 No. 8 to 12 wins against just two defeats. France fights back to beat Italy In Genoa, Italy, France recovered from 2-0 down to beat Italy 3-2 after a dominant doubles victory Sunday to reach the Fed Cup semifinals for the first time since 2007. Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic followed up their earlier singles victories by beating the world's top-ranked doubles pair, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, 6-1, 6-2 to complete the comeback. Mladenovic had earlier beaten Errani 6-4, 6-3 to get Amelie Mauresmo's team back into the series, before Garcia recovered from a set down to defeat Camila Giorgi 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. Germany in semis Andrea Petkovic endured another grueling three-set marathon to seal Germany's 3-1 win over Australia Sunday and put the hosts in the Fed Cup semifinals. Germany, the 2014 finalists, will face Russia in the semifinals on April 18-19 after Petkovic again dug deep to seal a 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 win over Jarmila Gajdosova with the third set taking nearly an hour. It was the second time in 24 hours Petkovic was carried to victory by the vocal 4,000-strong crowd in a gruelling tie after Saturday's victory over Samantha Stosur came down to a 12-10 battle in the third-set after three hours, 13 minutes of tennis. Angelique Kerber had earlier put Germany on the brink of the semifinals with a straight-sets win over Stosur, who has lost both of her singles rubbers in Stuttgart. Kerber needed just one hour, 27 minutes to see off 2011 US Open winner Stosur to seal a 6-2, 6-4 victory in the third singles rubber. Czechs make flying start Karolina Pliskova won her Fed Cup debut Saturday and the defending champions Czech Republic grabbed a 2-0 lead on host Canada in their opening-round Fed Cup tie. Pliskova, ranked 22nd, fired nine aces in defeating 230th-ranked Canadian teen Francoise Abanda 6-2, 6-4 while Tereza Smitkova, ranked 62nd, downed Canada's 185th-ranked Gabriela Dabrowski 6-1, 6-2 in only 59 minutes. US advances to World Group playoffs Venus Williams defeated Maria Irigoyen of Argentina 6-1, 6-4 Sunday to advance the United States to the Fed Cup playoffs in April and a chance to return to the World Group, which comprises the top eight teams. Williams' victory on outdoor clay gave the United States an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five World Group II tie. Earlier Sunday Paula Ormaechea of Argentina defeated Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4. Vandeweghe filled in for Serena Williams, who did not play because of illness. Venus and Serena gave the United States a 2-0 lead Saturday, defeating Ormaechea and Irigoyen. Gasquet wins at Montpellier Frenchman Richard Gasquet won his 11th ATP event Sunday as he defeated Jerzy Janowicz in the Montpellier final when the Polish No. 1 retired sick at 3-0 down in the first set. Gasquet, who also won the event in 2013, was playing in his third final in a row at Montpellier and 23rd of his career since making his professional debut in 2002. The 28-year-old — who boasts two Grand Slam semifinal appearances at Wimbledon in 2007 (lost to Roger Federer) and US Open in 2013 (lost to Rafael Nadal) — had avenged his defeat in last year's final to compatriot Gael Monfils in beating him in straight sets in Saturday's semifinal. Garcia-Lopez topples Seppi for title Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (4), 6-3 Sunday in the final of the Zagreb Indoors for his fourth career ATP title. The third-seeded Garcia-Lopez rallied from 4-1 down in the first-set tiebreaker, winning six straight points to clinch the set. Seppi earned the first break of the match for a 3-2 lead in the second, but Garcia-Lopez responded again by winning the next four games. He clinched the win when Seppi sent a backhand into the net. — Agencies
