Francesca Schiavone breezed to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kateryna Bondarenko Friday, putting her in the semifinals of the Prague Open. The top-seeded Schiavone will meet qualifier Timea Bacsinszky in the semifinals after Bacsinszky surprised fourth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-4. No.

Francesca Schiavone and Sybille Bammer, the top two seeds in the Prague Open, earned quarterfinal berths Wednesday. Schiavone, seeded No. 1, cruised past Polona Hercog 6-2, 6-2.

Top seeds Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Sybille Bammer of Austria were first-round winners Monday at the Prague Open. Schiavone defeated Israeli Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-3 and Bammer beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5. Also, No.

Italy's Francesca Schiavone battled to a three-set win that gave Italy the clinching point Sunday in a Fed Cup semifinal victory over defending champion Russia. The Italians, who went on to win the best-of-five matches 4-1, will play for the championship in November against the United States, which ousted the Czech team 3-2 at Brno in the Czech Republic. Schiavone defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-2 to give her team an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

Led by Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone Saturday, Italy forged a 2-0 lead in its Fed Cup quarterfinal against France at Orleans, France. The two nations are meeting in the Fed Cup for the fourth time in six years, with the Italians winning the last two matchups. Pennetta rallied Saturday from a service break down in both of the last two sets to defeat former World No.