Italy wrapped up a 4-1 victory over defending champions Russia to set up a meeting with the USA in the Fed Cup final.

Francesca Schiavone's 7-6 (7/5) 4-6 6-2 win over Fed Cup debutant Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova gave the Italians an unassailable 3-1 lead in their World Group semi-final.

Starting the day 2-0 behind, Svetlana Kuznetsova had kept Russia in the contest with a 6-0 6-3 success over Flavia Pennetta in the third rubber.

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Pavlyuchenkova and Nadia Petrova 1-6 6-3 6-4 in the doubles.

The Italians will face USA in November's final after Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands completed a glorious comeback against Czech pair Iveta Benesova and Kveta Peschke in the decisive doubles rubber in Brno.

The American duo at one stage were a set and 5-2 down and match point down before they rallied to win 2-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-1 and seal a 3-2 victory.

Lucie Safarova had given Czech Republic a 2-1 lead with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Mattek-Sands in the opening rubber of the day before Alexa Glatch beat Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-1.

In the play-offs, Ukraine and Serbia completed emphatic victories to confirm their places in the World Group for the first time.

Ukraine powered to a 5-0 win over Argentina, Alona Bondarenko sealing victory with a 6-1 6-2 win over Jorgelina Cravero.

Further comfortable successes followed for Olga Savchuk, 6-2 6-1 over Aranza Salut, and Mariya Koryttseva and Savchuk, 6-2 6-0 over Maria Irigoyen and Paula Ormaechea in the doubles.

Serbia completed a 4-0 win over Spain thanks to wins today for Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, although both were taken the distance.

Jankovic prevailed against Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 3-6 6-3 and Jovanovic saw off Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/0)

The doubles rubber was abandoned due to rain and darkness.

Germany found the going rather more tough against China in their World Group play-off before they eventually sealed a 3-2 win.

Trailing 2-0 at the start of the day, China recorded back-to-back wins courtesy of Jie Zheng and Shuai Peng to take the tie to a deciding rubber.

Zheng beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5 6-4 and Peng was a 6-2 2-6 7-5 winner over Tatjana Malek.

But Groenefeld and Sabine Lisicki held their nerve in the doubles to recover from a set down and claim a 4-6 7-5 6-2 win.

An Amelie Mauresmo-inspired France fought back from 2-1 down to keep their place in the World Group with a 3-2 win over Slovakia.

After Alize Cornet lost 6-2 5-7 6-4 to Dominika Cibulkova, Mauresmo set about hauling her team back into the tie, first beating Daniela Hantuchova 7-5 6-4.

She then teamed up with Nathalie Dechy to beat Cibulkova and Hantuchova 4-6 6-1 6-4.

In the World Group II play-off, Belgium, Estonia and Poland were 3-2 winners over Canada, Israel and Japan respectively, while Australia beat Switzerland 3-1.