MILAN — Roberta Vinci secured Italy's fifth Fed Cup final appearance in eight years Monday after battling past Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic to give the hosts an unassailable lead on the red clay of Palermo. Vinci's 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win over Safarova handed Italy a 3-1 lead. Italy will now meet Russia, winner Sunday over Slovakia, in the final on Nov. 2-3. The hosts had powered to a 2-0 lead Saturday after straight singles victories for Sara Errani and Vinci over Safarova and Petra Kvitova respectively. Former Wimbledon winner Kvitova gave the Czechs hope of launching a fightback when she defeated Errani 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 Sunday. However any momentum gained, and indeed the day's play, was soon halted by rain which had already disrupted proceedings, prompting the decision to carry the tie over to Monday. Williams sisters hand US win Serena and Venus Williams delivered singles victories Sunday to lift the United States to a 3-2 Fed Cup playoff victory over Sweden that will keep America in the elite World Group. Venus Williams persevered to deliver the clinching point, sealing a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Johanna Larsson on her eighth match point. The seven-time Grand Slam champion had been rolling toward the win, serving for the match and the tie at 5-4 in the second set when she delivered three double faults to drop her serve. She immediately broke back to take a 6-5 lead, but had to claw through a 12th game that went to deuce nine times. “She started lifting her game, but thanks to all the support here I was able to give it to the US,” said Williams, who had seven of her 11 double faults in the second set but hung on to give the United States an unbeatable 3-1 lead. The Americans then opted out of the meaningless doubles, giving Sweden a walkover win and making the final score of the tie 3-2. The tie saw Serena and her former top-ranked sister Venus playing Fed Cup together for the first time in 14 months, and with the win, the United States avoided relegation to World Group II after losing their 2013 first-round tie 3-2 to Italy in February. — Agencies
