Italy at Czech Republic for Fed Cup semi

Czech player Lucia Safarova and Italy's Francesca Schiavone will kick off this weekend's Fed Cup semifinals, which pit the last two winners against each other. Italy defeated the Czech Republic in the 2010 cup semifinal en route to a second straight championship. The Czechs, however, won the 2011 title. Schiavone, No. 12 in the world, notched a win over the No. 23-rated Safarova in the 2010 semifinals. That same pairing is first up Saturday when the best-of-five series begins on an indoor hard court in Ostrava, Czech Republic. World No. 3 Petra Kvitova was given the second singles match Saturday and will play Sara Errani, 28th in the world. Sunday's schedule calls for Kvitova to go against Schiavone before Errani and Safarova play. The fifth match, also Sunday, is doubles with all four scheduled players ranked in the Top 15. The Czech Republic team is to be Andrea Hlavackova, eighth in the doubles rankings, and Lucie Hradecka, who is 10th. The Italians counter with Errani, the No. 12 doubles player, and Roberta Vinci, who is 13th. This weekend is the eighth time Italy and the Czech Republic will have met in Fed Cup play. The win in the 2010 semifinals gave Italy a 4-3 lead in the series. The Czech Republic-Italy winner moves to the finals Nov. 3-4 against either Russia or Serbia. The Czechs beat Russia 3-2 in last year's final series.