The Russian Tennis Federation won a decisive doubles match to hold off a resilient performance from the United States on Friday and advance to the final of the Billie Jean King Cup with a 2-1 victory.
The semifinal tie took nearly seven full hours to decide, after the traditional rivals split two topsy-turvy, three-set singles matches. Russian world No.40 Liudmila Samsonova recovered from a set down to beat Sloane Stephens, 1-6 6-4 6-3, despite hitting 41 unforced errors.