LONDON: Russia's Grand Slam champions were stunned by France's relative no-names and French Open champion Francesca Schiavone lost to an Australian making her Fed Cup singles debut in first-round ties Saturday. In front of a Moscow crowd anticipating a predicted victory parade, two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Alize Cornet 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 then three-time major champ Maria Sharapova fell to Virginie Razzano 6-3, 6-4 in her first Fed Cup match at home. The shocking results left Russia needing to sweep both reverse singles and the doubles Sunday to prevent further embarrassment. Since the Fed Cup moved to a best-of-five format in 1995, Russia has never won from 2-0 down. Neither has Slovakia, which was trailing the Czech Republic 2-0 in the derby at Bratislava. In Hobart, defending champion Italy had to come back to level with Australia 1-1 after Schiavone blew a set-and-break lead in losing to Jarmila Groth 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3. Flavia Pennetta evened the tie by upsetting world No. 5 Sam Stosur 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-4. In Antwerp, a Belgium side featuring Australian Open champ Kim Clijsters led the United States 2-0. The Czechs gave Slovak fans nothing to cheer about in Sibamac Arena as Australian Open quarterfinalist Petra Kvitova beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-3 and Lucie Safarova handled Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-1. The winner of the tie will face Belgium or the United States in the semifinals in April. It should be Belgium, which was in command after Yanina Wickmayer beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 7-6 (6) and Clijsters mopped up Melanie Oudin 6-0, 6-4. Clijsters should seal the tie when she meets Mattek-Sands in Sunday's first reverse singles. “Everybody always expects a lot but it isn't always that easy,” Clijsters warned. Japan wins slot Second-seeded Japan beat Uzbekistan 3-0 at Nonthaburi, Thailand, to reserve a slot at the Fed Cup World Group II Playoffs in April. Japan's victory in Saturday's promotional playoff for Asia/Oceania Qualifying Group I marked the second year in a row it has moved up a stage. In other play, India – playing without Sania Mirza – was beaten 2-1 by Taiwan, relegating the South Asian nation to Group II of the regional zone next year. In the Group II playoff, Indonesia beat Hong Kong 2-1 to be promoted to Group I next year.
