Fed Cup postponed by rain

Steady rain washed out Sunday's matches at the Fed Cup quarterfinal between Germany and the United States, forcing organizers to try again on Monday.

Officials waited four hours past the scheduled starting time before calling it a day. The rain let up for about an hour and workers attempted to dry off the court at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club before the rain resumed and the match was postponed.

The rain was supposed to clear out by Monday.

The best-of-5 series was tied at 1-1.

When it resumes, Lindsay Davenport is to play Tatjana Malek in the first reverse singles match, followed by Ashley Harkleroad against Sabine Lisicki. The doubles match is scheduled to be Davenport and Lisa Raymond against Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

The winner will move on to face defending champion Russia, which reached the semifinals behind Maria Sharapova. China and Spain also reached the semifinals.

Sharapova, who made her Fed Cup debut this weekend, cruised past Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1 to give the Russians a 2-1 lead over host Israel. Anna Chakvetadze then defeated Tzipi Obziler 6-4, 6-2 and the Russian doubles team won the final point to make it 4-1.

"It's a great win," said Sharapova, who won her second straight Fed Cup match.

China edged France 3-2 despite losing both reverse singles matches to reach the World Group semifinals for the first time, and Spain took an insurmountable 3-1 lead over Italy.

Sharapova, who won the Australian Open last week for her third Grand Slam title, won nine games in a row from 1-1 in the first set. The Russian then won on her fifth match point.

"I realized I was one point from winning the match and I definitely had a few nerves toward the end but I am glad I won," Sharapova said.

Elena Vesnina and Dinara Safina completed the day for Russia by beating Peer and Obziler 6-0, 1-6, 6-4.

Sharapova was selected to Russia's squad for last year's Fed Cup final against Italy in Moscow, but was injured and didn't play in the 4-0 win. The current team does not include No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

China went into Sunday's three matches in Beijing with a 2-0 lead over France, but Virginie Razzano beat Li Na 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and Nathalie Dechy defeated Yan Zi 6-3, 6-2 to even the score.

Yan and Zheng Jie then teamed to beat Dechy and Razzano 7-5, 7-6 (5) to put the Chinese into the semifinals.

"Our level is improving all the time," China captain Jiang Hong-Wei. "We have more experience and more fight. The girls try very hard for the team. I hope we will be the strongest team."

Anabel Medina Garrigues delivered the winning point for Spain by beating Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-1 in the first reverse singles match. Medina Garrigues won six straight games to close out the second set after losing the first game.

Italy got a point back in the second reverse singles match with Sara Errani beating Lourdes Dominguez-Lino 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.

Italy, which won its only Fed Cup title in 2006, reached the final last year but lost to Russia.

In World Group II, Japan beat Croatia 4-1. Also, it was Ukraine 2, Belgium 2; Czech Republic 2; Slovakia 2; and Argentina 2, Austria 1.

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AP Sports Writer Chris Lehourites in London contributed to this report.