Thanks to two singles victories from newly crowned Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, holder Russia beat Israel 3-1 here on Sunday to make the semifinals of Fed Cup world group.

With the nations tied 1-1 going into Sunday's matches, Fed Cup debutant Sharapova routed Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1 in a reverse singles match between the number ones.

Before the match, Peer had been undefeated in 11 Fed Cup singles matches.

In the second singles rubber, world number seven Anna Chakvetadze, a replacement for Dinara Safina, sealed the winning point with a victory of 6-4, 6-2 over Tzipi Obziler.

In Saturday's games, Peer had drawn first blood for Israel with a 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Safina, while Sharapova completely outclassed the world number 81 Obziler 6-0, 6-4 in the second rubber.
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(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2008)