Italy beat France in ill-tempered tie, Russia win

LONDON: Italy silenced an angry French team on Sunday to set up a Fed Cup semifinal with champions Russia.

Russia completed a 5-0 whitewash of an understrength China while Czech Republic beat Spain 4-1 to give them a semifinal place against the United States in April.

Bad feeling between France and Italy continued to simmer on Sunday but it did not stop Italy from romping to a 5-0 win in the first-round tie.