Czechs win doubles to clinch first Fed Cup title

Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina in the doubles to give the Czech Republic a 3-2 win over Russia.

Moscow: Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2 in the decisive doubles to give the Czech Republic a 3-2 win over Russia in the Fed Cup final on Sunday, clinching the country`s first title as an independent nation.

Earlier, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova prevailed over Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first match of the day to put the Czechs within a point of claiming their first Fed Cup crown after they split from Slovakia in 1993. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who replaced Kirilenko after the latter`s straight-set loss to Kvitova on Saturday, overpowered Czech number two Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-4 in the second reverse singles to pull the hosts level at 2-2. The Czechs` last triumph came when, playing as Czechoslovakia, they beat the former Soviet Union 2-1 in the 1988 final. Bureau Report