MOSCOW (AP) Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova lost their singles matches Saturday, giving France a 2-0 lead against Russia in their Fed Cup series.
Virginie Razzano defeated Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 after Alize Cornet rallied to beat Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Reverse singles and a doubles match will be Sunday in the best-of-five series.
A set and 4-1 down, Sharapova won three consecutive games to even it 4-4. But Razzano broke for a 5-4 lead and served out the match at love.
Sharapova had defeated Razzano in the second round of the Australian Open.
The 67th-ranked Cornet was a set and 2-0 down when she tied it 2-2 in the second set and broke Kuznetsova in the eighth game. After trading breaks three times in the third set, Cornet broke for a 5-4 lead and served the match out with a forehand cross-court winner.
I didn't feel that I would win,'' Cornet said.I just tried to fight for every point. And just at the match point, when I finally made the winner and won the match, I realized what I'd done - and that was a great moment.''
Serving at 40-30 in the fourth game of the third set, Cornet stumbled and appeared to have twisted her right ankle. She took a medical time out and had her ankle bandaged.
I really twisted my ankle and it was very painful at the moment,'' said Cornet.But with the tension and the motivation that I was feeling on the court, I just tried to forget about the pain.''
Kuznetsova said the injury didn't seem to slow Cornet.
It's always hard to play someone who is injured,'' Kuznetsova said.But in the end, I understood that nothing mattered - she moved the same way as before.''
The 23rd-ranked Russian had 62 unforced errors and converted only five of 16 breakpoints.
I have no excuses,'' Kuznetsova said.I've lost a match that I should have won, in any case. I opened strongly but then started to hurry and do strange things, and that's the result of it.''
The winner of the match will play either Australia or Italy in the semifinals on April 16-17.