Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova battled back from a set down to defeat Sabine Lisicki as Russia took a comfortable 2-0 lead over Germany in the Fed Cup World Group semi-final on Saturday.
Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier beat Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-4 at the red clay court of Adler Arena as four-time champions Russia edged closer towards the final.
The 23-year-old Pavlyuchenkova won 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in two hours 28 minutes to record her second win over Lisicki, who is 19th in the WTA rankings, in as many meetings.
“It was a very hard match,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
“I feel worn out but I’m really happy to give my team this win today.
“After winning the second set in the tiebreak I was stoked and it helped me to start the deciding set pretty well.”
Germany’s 25-year-old broke twice to her opponent’s once to snatch the opening set in 42 minutes.
Pavlyuchenkova, 38th in the world, started the second set with an immediate break for a 2-0 lead but Lisicki broke back in the 10th game to level at 5-5.
But in the tiebreak that followed, the Russian was more precise and levelled at one set all.
In the deciding set, Pavlyuchenkova moved up a gear, breaking twice from the start for a comfortable 4-0 lead before Lisicki chalked up her first game in the set, also with a break.
The players traded breaks again before the Russian finally held her nerve, and serve, to close out the victory that gave her side a commanding 2-0 lead.
Kuznetsova, currently 24th in the WTA rankings, became Russia’s most successful player in Fed Cup history with her 27th win.
“It was a very nervous match as we both wanted to show our best tennis today,” Kuznetsova said.
“The key moment of the match was in the middle of the second set when Julia broke back to level.
“Luckily I managed to gather my strength to win the first point.”
Kuznetsova got the better of a trio of breaks to take the first set before starting the second with yet another.
Goerges, 26, who made 45 unforced errors in the match, broke back in the fourth game to level at 2-2.
But Russia’s two-time Grand Slam winner produced the deciding break in the ninth game.
“Sveta played a very consistent match,” Goerges said.
“She didn’t give me many free points from easy mistakes. I tried to be as aggressive as possible but sometimes I took too many risks trying to rush points.”
In Sunday’s reverse singles, Kuznetsova will play Lisicki before Pavlyuchenkova faces Goerges.
In Sunday’s last rubber Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva, a replacement for the injured Maria Sharapova, will play Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic in the doubles.