American Varvara Lepchenko won in her Fed Cup singles debut to lift the U.S. team to a 1-1 tie against Italy on Saturday in Rimini, Italy, after seventh-ranked Sara Errani beat No. 64 Jamie Hampton 6-2, 6-1.
Lepchenko rallied past Roberta Vinci 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 after the Italian struggled with a leg cramp in the final set, which featured seven breaks of serve.The doubles today will pit Melanie Oudin and Liezel Huber against Nastassja Burnett and Karin Knapp. Lepchenko will play Errani in singles.Lepchenko, who is originally from Uzbekistan, moved to the U.S. in 2001 and claimed political asylum. She officially became a U.S. citizen in 2011.Also in Fed Cup play, Slovakia-Serbia and Japan-Russia are tied 1-1.Nadal into finalsRafael Nadal beat Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-2, putting the Spaniard in the singles and doubles finals today in the VTR Open in Vina Del Mar, Chile, after a seven-month layoff due to a left knee injury and a stomach virus. Nadal will face Argentine Horacio Zeballos in the singles final.BrieflyOpen Sud de France: Richard Gasquet will face Benoit Paire in an all-French final today in Paris. Gasquet defeated Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Paire beat Michael Llodra 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.Zagreb Indoors: Top-seeded Marin Cilic will face Jurgen Melzer in the final today. Cilic rallied past defending champion Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Melzer defeated Robin Haase 7-6 (2), 6-3.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
