Lindsay Davenport and Ashley Harkleroad won their singles for the US to beat Germany 4-1 in their rain-delayed Fed Cup quarter-final on Monday.
Rain washed out all play on Sunday with the score 1-1, and Davenport quickly put the US ahead on Monday by defeating Julia Goerges 6-1, 6-2 in 46 minutes, then Fed Cup first-timer Harkleroad secured victory by downing Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 7-5, rallying from 4-1 down in the second set.
Both Germans were playing in their first tie.
Lisa Raymond and Davenport completed the tie by winning the doubles 6-2, 6-0 in 41 minutes from Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Tatjana Malek.
The US will visit defending champion Russia in April for their third semi-final against each other in four years.
"I'm tired of Russia," US captain Zina Garrison said with a laugh. "Russia, we know going into it, it's going to be tough. Lindsay's already given me the go-ahead to call those Williamses [Venus and Serena]. I'm going to go for both of them. We need the strongest team possible out there. If I get one and Lindsay, that's good, but if you can get both of them, that's an extra bonus."
A Maria Sharapova-led Russia beat Israel 4-1 on Sunday.
The other semi features China against Spain.
On Sunday, China edged France 3-2, and Spain beat Italy 3-2.
Harkleroad was brilliant in her debut, winning both of her singles in straight sets, and carrying the US after Davenport faltered badly in losing Saturday's opening singles match in straight sets to 18-year-old Lisicki.
Davenport regained her pride and her game in beating 19-year-old Goerges.
Harkleroad clinched the match in dramatic fashion.
After falling behind in the second set, she held serve, then broke Lisicki's serve to love to pull to 4-3. Lisicki broke Harkleroad and was serving for the set when Harkleroad again broke serve to win the first of four straight games. Serving for the match, Harkleroad had a fault, then won it when the German's backhand service return hit the tape, went up in the air and fell back down on Lisicki's side.
Harkleroad raised both arms in the air, then grabbed a US flag for a victory lap around the court at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.
"I'm just proud of myself and super excited with the way that I played and handled my nerves," Harkleroad said.
"At the end I felt like my arm was like 100 pounds. The last second serve, I think I laid it in about 20mph [32kph], but it worked, so I'm happy," she said.
Said Davenport: "She really carried the team. Just to get through and give ourselves another opportunity later in the year is really exciting."
Davenport, the three-time Grand Slam champion who's coming back following the birth of her first child in June, had her only real hiccup against Goerges when she lost two straight games after taking a 5-0 lead in the second set.
"I just felt pressure more for my pride," Davenport said. "Normally I've played so well in Fed Cup. I felt really bad for my teammates. Most importantly, I was able to win an important match for the team."
Davenport pushed her overall Fed Cup record to 32-3.
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