Italy's top player Francesca Schiavone gave the visitors a flying start by brushing aside untried American teenager Coco Vandeweghe 6-2, 6-4 in one hour 23 minutes on the indoor hardcourt surface at the San Diego Sports Arena.
Flavia Pennetta then held off a first-set fightback by American number one Bethanie Mattek-Sands, saving one set point, before winning a tense match 7-6, 6-2. No team has come from 0-2 behind to win the Fed Cup, and the Italians are poised to complete another whitewash against the Americans, having swept them 4-0 in last year's final.
In Sunday's reverse singles, Mattek-Sands was set to face Schiavone while Vandeweghe meets Pennetta before Americans Liezel Huber and Melanie Oudin play Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the concluding doubles.
Published 07 November 2010, 14:59 IST