By ,
Published May 02, 2016
Krakow, Poland (SportsNetwork.com) - Svetlana Kuznetsova pulled off somewhat of a surprise and Maria Sharapova did the expected, as Russia opened a commanding lead in their Fed Cup quarterfinal against Poland.
Kuznetsova gave the visitors the first point of the day with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Agnieszka Radwanska before Sharapova cruised past Urszula Radwanska, 6-0, 6-3 on Saturday.
The Russians own a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five tie and can wrap it up with one victory on Sunday.
Kuznetsova is a two-time Grand Slam champion, but her last major title came back in 2009 and she ended a four-year WTA victory drought last summer in Washington, DC. However, the 29-year-old veteran entered with a 10-4 record against Agnieszka Radwanska and again outplayed the eighth-ranked player in the world on Saturday.
Radwanska, after dropping the first set and the first two games of the second, rallied by winning six straight games to force a third. Kuznetsova, though, broke twice in the decisive set and dropped just six points on her own serve to finish the match.
Sharapova, coming off her runner-up finish to Serena Williams at the Australian Open, then dominated the younger Radwanska. She took the first set in a mere 34 minutes and won the first two games of the second.
Urszula Radwanska, though, won the next three games before Sharapova regrouped and won the last four.
Sharapova will be up first on Sunday in reverse singles action with a chance to clinch it for Russia. She'll face Agnieszka Radwanska and owns that matchup with an 11-2 mark.
Kuznetsova and Urszula Radwanska are scheduled for the second reverse singles rubber before the doubles match, which is currently slated to feature a Russian tandem of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Vitalia Diatchenko versus a Polish duo of Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Alicja Rosolska.
The winner in Krakow will move on to face either Australia or Germany in a semifinal in April.
Russia is a four-time Fed Cup champ, claiming each of its titles from 2004-08.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/russia-storms-to-early-fed-cup-lead-over-poland