This year's Fed Cup 2013 kicked off on Friday with the first round pitting eight countries in the World Group against each other for the chance to move onto the semifinals in April.
Russia hosted the first match of the World Group tournament as it faced Japan at its Olympic Stadium in Moscow. Russian player Maria Kirilenko (13) competed against Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm and took home the first point of the tournament in two sets, 7-6(3) and 6-4. Her teammate Ekaterina Makarova (20) was not as victorious in her match against Ayumi Morita, losing 2-6 and 2-6.
Kirilenko will face off against Morita next in the first singles match on Sunday and will be followed by Makarova, who will face Date-Krumm. Morita will play a third match, this time a doubles with Misaki Doi against Russia's Margarita Gasparyan and Elena Vesnina.
The Czech Republic and Australia faced off next featuring two top ten-seeded players, Petra Kvitova (8) from the Czech Republic and Samantha Stosur (9) from Australia. Kvitova played the first match, defeating Jarmila Gajdosova in two sets, 7-6(2) and 6-3. Her teammate, Lucie Safarova (18) went on to defeat Stosur in two hard-fought sets, 7-6(6) and 7-6(4).
Kvitova will face Stosur next in the first singles match on Sunday. Australia's Gajdosova will face off against Safarova in the last singles match of the first round. A final doubles match, between the Czech Republic's Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka and Australia's Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, will follow the two singles matches.
Last year's finalist Serbia played against the Slovak Republic in the first two singles matches of their matchup. Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski lost the first match against the Slovak Republic's Daniela Hantuchova in two sets, 5-7 and 2-6. However, the team took home the second match between Vesna Dolonc and Dominika Cibulkova after Cibulkova was forced to retire due to severe cramps.
Cibulkova will have her chance to redeem herself in the first singles match on Sunday against Serbia's Jovanocski. Serbia's Dolonc will be forced to play two matches in a row, the first singles match against Hantuchova and the second doubles match along with Aleksandra Krunic against the Slovak Republic's Jana Cepelova and Magdalena Rybarikova.
In the last matchup of the day, Italy faced off against longtime rival USA. Italy's Sara Errani (7) defeated American Jamie Hampton in two easy sets, 6-2, 6-1. However, her teammate Roberta Vinci (16) had a tougher time against Varvara Lepchenko, losing in three set 6-2, 4-6 and 5-7.
Errani will compete against Lepchenko next in her last match this round and will be followed by Vinci, who will compete against Hampton. The last match between the two countries will be the doubles match pitting Italians Nastassja Burnett and Karin Knapp against Americans Liezel Huber (8 Doubles) and Melanie Oudin.
The teams will face off on Sunday for their last two singles matches and one doubles match. The first round of the Fed Cup will conclude on Sunday, February 10 and will resume for the semifinals in April. Watch the day's matches live here.
Day 1 Recaps | Day 2 Schedules-
Russia 1 - Japan 1 | Next match: Sunday at 5 a.m. EST
Serbia 1 - Slovak Republic 1 | Next match: Sunday at 6 a.m. EST
Czech Republic 2 - Australia 0 | Next match: Sunday at 6 a.m. EST
Italy 1 - USA 1 | Next Match: Sunday at 7:30 a.m. EST
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