Moscow's Luzhniki Arena to host Fed Cup final

MOSCOW, July 19 (Reuters) Moscow's Luzhniki Arena will host the Fed Cup final between Russia and Italy, Russian tennis chief Shamil Tarpishchev said today.

Tarpishchev, president of the Russian tennis federation and the country's Fed Cup captain, said the September. 15-16 final will be held at the 10,000-seat Luzhniki Indoor Sports Palace.

''We wanted to host the final at the Olympic arena but it was unavailable during that week,'' Tarpishchev said, adding that the final will be played on a fast synthetic surface.

Holders Italy reached their second consecutive final with a 3-2 win over France in last week's semi-final while Russia will be playing in their third final in the last four years after beating the United States by the same score in the other semi.

The 14,000-seat Olympic arena will host Russia's Davis Cup semi-final against Germany on September. 21-23.

REUTERS TB PM1741