Stylish Russians in Fed Cup final

Nadia Petrova and Elena Dementieva won compelling singles battles against French opposition on Friday to take Russia through to the final of the Fed Cup for the fourth time.

Petrova overcame a bout of nerves in the deciding set to beat world number 11 Sandrine Testud 6-7 6-4 6-4.

That left the Russians needing just one win from the final two rubbers and Dementieva provided it with a classy 6-3 0-6 6-4 victory over Amelie Mauresmo.

"We're so excited about reaching the final," said Petrova. "That's been our goal the whole week -- to reach the final and maybe even win it."

Russia, with three points from three games in group A, will meet the winners of Saturday's group B clash between Belgium and Spain in the final on Sunday.

While Belgium continued their faultless progress with a 3-0 win over Australia, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario had to dig deep to haul her side back into contention against Germany.

Spain were on the ropes after Conchita Martinez went down 6-1 7-5 to Martina Mueller in the opening singles on the indoor clay of Madrid.

But Sanchez-Vicario, who has won the Fed Cup five times alongside Martinez, revived Spanish hopes as she beat Barbara Rittner 7-5 6-3 and then teamed up with Virginia Ruano Pascual to take the doubles 6-3 2-6 6-0.

Spain and Belgium both now have two points from two games and whoever wins Saturday's centre-court clash will go through to take on Russia, who will be looking for their first Fed Cup title from their fourth appearance in the final.

STYLISH RUSSIANS

They made it past France in style, with Petrova and Dementieva displaying keen-eyed determination to beat higher ranked opposition.

Petrova had two breaks of serve in the first set against Testud but still ended up losing it 7-5 on the tiebreak, as the Frenchwoman counter-attacked to devastating effect.

The 19-year-old Russian regrouped to get the first break in the second set, and this time she held on to level the scores.

Testud saved two match points when serving at 3-5 in the decider, a perfect cross-court forehand and a neat volley keeping her hopes alive.

Testud, 29, saved another match-point at 40-15 in the following game but Petrova eventually took the match in two hours 16 minutes with a service winner on the next point.

Dementieva emerged the winner in a see-saw game against Mauresmo, a player ranked six places ahead of her at number nine.

The Russian was superb in the first set but could only watch as Mauresmo's power gave her the second set in 30 minutes.

Dementieva recovered to take a 3-0 lead in the decider and although Mauresmo fought back to level the score, the Russian got her nose in front again at 5-4 and never looked back.

"There were key points in the final set and I didn't win them," said Mauresmo after a match that was delayed three times because of floodlight failure.

FAULTLESS BELGIANS

Belgium's second win in the competition was once again engineered by straight-sets victories from Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.

Wimbledon finalist Henin had to overcome a determined challenge from Australia's Rachel McQuillan in the first set of their opening clash on court one before running out a 7-5 6-0 winner.

Clijsters, runner-up to Jennifer Capriati at the French Open, clinched the tie ahead of the doubles with an easy 6-3 6-3 victory over Alicia Molik.

"It's nice to get comfortable wins early on," said Henin. "There's still a game we have to win tomorrow, though (against Spain)."