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 Russia's Anna Chakvetadze struggled past Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the opening match of the tournament's final. Reverse singles and doubles in the best-of-five format are Sunday.
Italy defeated Belgium to win its first Fed Cup title last season. Russia is unbeaten in three matches against Italy, and won the Fed Cup title in 2004 and '05.
Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, dispatched Santangelo in 57 minutes, closing the match with three consecutive aces.
Chakvetadze, a U.S. Open semifinalist, won only two points in the first two games as she fell behind 2-0 in the first set. But she broke back immediately, capitalizing on Schiavone's three double-faults, and a second break in the seventh game was enough to win the set.
The two traded breaks to start the second, and the 25th-ranked Schiavone then broke again to go up 4-2.
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Chakvetadze broke back to make it 5-4 after the Italian netted a low backhand volley. But she was unable to keep the momentum, falling 40-love down on her serve in the next game and Schiavone evened the match at 1-1 when Chakvetadze's return went wide.
In the decisive third set, Chakvetadze fell behind 3-0, before fighting back to make it 3-3.
"I thought we were going to lose the match," Chakvetadze said. "But I said to myself that I have to fight."
Schiavone held her next serve before Chakvetadze won the next three games, ending the match with a long backhand cross on her second match point.
"I will practice," Chakvetadze said. "I have to serve much better."
[Associated Press;
By LEONID CHIZHOV]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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