Date:24/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/24/stories/2007042404822000.htm

Sport - Tennis

King is the queen for U.S.

DELRAY BEACH: Vania King stepped in as a late replacement and guided the United States into the Fed Cup semifinals with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens on Sunday that gave the host a winning 3-0 lead.

Venus Williams then cruised to victory over Yanine Wickmayer before teenager King teamed up with Lisa Raymond to complete a 5-0 whitewash.

The United States will next host Russia in the July semifinals, while Italy will square off against France.

Serena withdraws

In an unexpected turn of events, it was the 83rd-ranked King who was handed the job of clinching the tie. The 18-year-old was called into the singles in place of Serena Williams, who was sidelined with an inflammation of her right knee earlier in the day.

The results (home teams first):

At Castellaneta Marina: Italy bt China 5-0 (Mara Santangelo & Roberta Vinci bt Sun Tiantian & Sun Sheng-nan 6-2, 6-4).

At Limoges: France bt Japan 5-0 (Virginie Razzano bt Akiko Morigami 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-2; Severine Bremond & Nathalie Dechy bt Ayumi Morita/ Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-2).

At Moscow: Russia bt Spain 5-0 (Nadia Petrova & Elena Vesnina bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino & Laura Pous Tio 6-1, 4-6, 6-2).

At Delray Beach: USA bt Belgium 5-0 (Vania King bt Flipkens 4-6, 6-4, 7-5; Venus Williams bt Yanine Wickmayer 6-1, 6-2; King & Lisa Raymond bt Tamaryn Hendler & Caroline Maes 6-1, 6-2). — Agencies