Italy, France, US and Russia all lead in Fed Cup

LONDON, Apr 22 (Reuters) Flavia Pennetta clawed her way out of trouble, helped by an injury to Chinese opponent Peng Shuai, to give defending champions Italy a 2-0 lead in the Fed Cup quarter-finals.

Italy's likely semi-final opponents, France, had a much easier first day with Nathalie Dechy and Tatiana Golovin both recording straight-sets singles wins over Japan.

In Moscow, former champions Russia also took a 2-0 lead, over Spain, after Nadia Petrova overcame early nerves in the opening rubber.

In the fourth quarter-final, Venus and Serena Williams eased past their Belgian opponents to give the United States a 2-0 lead in Delray Beach, Florida.

Italian captain Corrado Barazzutti admitted he had been on tenterhooks as he watched Pennetta go 0-6 3-5 down against Peng in Castellaneta Marina, deep in southern Italy.

''The more time passed, the more I suffered,'' Barazzutti said.

After Pennetta broke back, saving three matchpoints and turning the game around to take the second set 7-5, Peng began to struggle after aggravating a hamstring injury and retired at 0-3 down in the third yesterday.

Tathiana Garbin, Italy's top-ranked player at 23 in the world, had been expected to easily defeat doubles Olympic champion Sun Tiantian, who is ranked 90th in singles, in the opening rubber.

Garbin, also struggled, however, hitting numerous errors and double faults before winning 6-4 2-6 6-3.

''From a technical point of view I'm not satisfied with the way I played but what counts is winning and I gave it my heart,'' said Garbin. ''I hope I play better tomorrow.'' The Chinese team, who left out their top players Li Na and Zheng Jie, must decide overnight whether Peng, who is scheduled to play reverse singles and doubles with Sun on Sunday, will be fit to continue.

CONFUSION Confusion reigned over the Chinese team selection. Team captain Zhang Qi said on Thursday that both Li and Zheng had injuries but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Wednesday that China had dropped the pair because of a misunderstanding over qualifying rules for the Beijing Olympics.

France were without world number three Amelie Mauresmo, who is recovering from appendicitis, for their tie in Limoges but they barely missed her.

Golovin was in fine form, outplaying Akiko Morigami to win 6-2 6-4 in one hour 13 minutes in the second singles rubber after Dechy, 28, had beaten Japan's number one Ai Sugiyama 7-5 6-1.

''We've promised ourselves to play like lionesses and to fight for every point,'' said Dechy who took control of the match in the second set, breaking serve in the fourth and sixth games and sealing victory after one hour 42 minutes.

After today's reverse singles, Golovin will team up with Severine Bremond in doubles against Sugiyama and Ayumi Morita.

As Russia set out to reclaim the trophy they won in 2004 and 2005, Petrova overcame a slow start to beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-4 before world number five Svetlana Kuznetsova overpowered Lourdes Domingues-Lino 6-3 6-2 in 66 minutes.

UNINSPIRED A nervous Petrova fell behind 0-2 in the first set and also trailed 0-3 at the start of the second, but she still prevailed in an uninspired clay-court battle at Moscow's Luzhniki Sports Palace.

''I haven't played the team competition for a while so I completely forgot the feeling of it,'' said world number nine Petrova, who had problems with her right wrist towards the end.

Kuznetsova appeared to have little trouble against Domingues-Lino, running the 66th-ranked Spaniard ragged with her powerful groundstrokes.

But the 2004 US Open champion admitted: ''Actually I was very nervous before the match because I had not played Fed Cup for two years and I didn't know how I would feel playing in front of the home crowd here in Moscow.

''But as the match progressed I felt more and more in control. I probably could have done a bit better, still 6-3 6-2 looks like a good score to me.'' The hosts are missing world number two Maria Sharapova and 13th-ranked Elena Dementieva through injuries but are still the overwhelming favourites to reach the July 14-15 semi-finals.

In Florida, Belgium, playing without Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, were no match for the in-form Williams sisters.

Venus took time to settle in the opening match due to windy conditions but then pulled away to beat 132nd-ranked Kirsten Flipkens 7-5 6-2, while her sister Serena delivered a 6-1 6-4 win over Caroline Maes.

''I think that the match had some drama,'' Venus told reporters.

''The second set we were pretty much even until I got the first break.'' Williams trailed Flipkens 4-2 in the opening set but slowly adjusted her serve to handle the wind. With the Belgian leading 5-3 15-0, Venus won 11 consecutive points to take control.

Australian Open champion Serena breezed through the first set against Maes but lost her way in the second.

''I feel like I lost a little focus in the second set and I wasn't doing the things I felt I could've gotten done,'' she said.

REUTERS TB PM1235