MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova clinched Russia's third Fed Cup title on Sunday in Moscow, with a hard-fought victory over Italy's Francesca Schiavone.
With three straight wins in the five-match final at Moscow's Luzhniki arena, Kuznetsova's 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 victory handed the title to the Russian team.
In Sunday's first reverse singles match against Schiavone, which turned out to be the decider, Kuznetsova saved two match points in the second set, and came back from 1-4 down in the final set.
Russia were the clear favorites in the final against Italy, last year's surprise winners. On Saturday both Kuznetsova (No. 2 in the WTA rankings) and Anna Chakvetadze (World No. 5) won their singles matches, giving Russia a 2-0 lead.
The Fed Cup, formerly the Federation Cup, is the leading women's team tennis competition, the equivalent of the men's Davis Cup.
