Defending champions Italy defied sweltering heat to come back from 2-1 down to beat France 3-2 and reach the Fed Cup final on Sunday.
The Italians will play Russia, who defeated the US 3-2 in the second semi-final, which also came down to the final doubles rubber.
Francesca Schiavione, who remained unbeaten throughout the weekend, teamed up with Roberta Vinci in the crucial doubles to see off Nathalie Dechy and Severine Bremond 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
PHOTO: EPA
Italy will now face Russia, who beat the US 3-2, in the September 15-16 final.
France were left kicking themselves after throwing away a golden chance to wrap up the semi-final.
Amelie Mauresmo beat Mara Santangelo 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 6-4 in Sunday's opening singles before Tatiana Golovin threw away a 5-2 final set lead to crumble to a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 defeat against Schiavone in the second singles rubber of the day.
Golovin became increasingly agitated with the passionate local crowd.
"She got angry and I don't understand it," said French captain Georges Goven. "She was nervous and the match went down the tubes. It's the first time I have seen her in that situation. It was a costly mistake."
Schiavone was included in the doubles team despite having spent 2hr 44min on court against Golovin taking the place of Santangelo.
Golovin gave France their first point of the tie when she beat Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in Saturday's opening rubber before the home side hit back when Schiavone beat Mauresmo in straight sets.
On Sunday, Santangelo gave it her best in the first set against Mauresmo immediately putting the former world number one on the back foot, who only took the lead in the seventh game at 4-3 converting the first break of the match.
However the French number one failed to keep her nose in front and eventually lost the tie-break despite winning the first five points.
Letting go of the first set seemed to wake Mauresmo up and the former Wimbledon and Australian Open champion came back in the second set, demolishing her rival 6-0 in just 25 minutes.
Following an obligatory 10-minute break due to the searing heat, Mauresmo got off to a bad start in the third set but recovered well to take the rubber.
In Stowe, Vermont, Nadia Petrova and Elena Vesnina overcame doubles standout Lisa Raymond and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 7-5, 7-6 (7/1) to secure Russia's place in the final.
Williams was a last-minute addition in the do-or-die doubles, but to no avail.
She had already delivered two points for the US, including a quick 6-1, 6-4 victory over Anna Chakvetadze on Sunday that put the Americans 2-1 up.
But Petrova responded with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over inexperienced Meilen Tu to knot the tie at 2-2.
After heavy rain delayed the start of play, Williams powered to an early lead in the first set as Chakvetadze struggled with her serve, coughing up seven double faults.
Chakvetadze steadied herself in the second, but still couldn't manage to break the US veteran.
It was an easy win for Williams compared to Saturday, when she endured a nightmare match against Petrova but eked out a 7-6 (8/6), 0-6, 6-4 victory that saw the Americans finish the opening day level at 1-1.
Chakvetadze had opened the tie with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over 18-year-old American Vania King, who was replaced by Tu in Sunday's singles and then by Williams in the doubles as US captain Zina Garrison sought in vain to find a formula that would bring the Americans to the FedCup final for the first time since 2003.
They haven't won the women's nations tournament since 2000.
Garrison had to make do this week without Serena Williams, who is nursing a hand injury suffered at Wimbledon.
Russia, who have won two of the last three FedCup crowns, were also missing some big names, with reigning US Open champion Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova sidelined by injuries.
Taiwan lost 3-2 to Croatia in their Fed Cup tie in Split on Sunday.
The day started disastrously for the visitors as Ana Vrljic thrashed Chan Chin-wei 6-0, 6-1. That left Hsieh Su-wei needing to win her match against Nika Ozegovic to keep Taiwanese hopes alive.
Things were looking desperate when she lost the first set 6-1 but Hsieh battled back to win the second set 7-5. In the deciding third set Ozegovic reasserted the dominance she had displayed in the opening set to win 6-1 and take the match and the tie for Croatia.
Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung claimed a consolation win in the doubles beating Jelena Kostanic Tosic and Vrljic 7-6, 6-3.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but