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Russia reign in Spain as Kuznetsova seals Fed Cup


Russia claimed the 2008 Fed Cup title after Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Spanish No.1 Anabel Medina Garrigues to give her team a 3-0 lead in the final.

The world No.7 secured Russia’s fourth Fed Cup title in five years by winning the first match of the day 5-7 6-3 6-4.

On Saturday, Vera Zvonareva beat Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-4 in the opening rubber of the tie before Kuznetsova cruised past 20-year-old Carla Suarez 6-3 6-1 in the Madrid Fed Cup.

With the title in sight, and despite racing to a 4-0 first set lead, Kuznetsova was forced to dig deep for her win as world No.29 Medina Garrigues tried to save the final for the hosts.

But although she took the opening set, Kuznetsova recovered to seal the tie in a match that took over two and a half hours.

“It was a tough match and I was never really close,” said the Spaniard. “She really stepped up on the big points.”

“We can’t criticise this team – we did very well to get to the final and we can be satisfied overall.”

The victory underlines Russia’s dominance of the women’s game. Before their purple patch of wins started in 2004, they had made losing final appearances in 1988, 1990, 1999 and 2001.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.