Maria Sharapova was dropped from the line-up as Russia completed a dramatic comeback to beat France 3-2 in the Fed Cup.
Sharapova led the team on day one but was completely outplayed in straight sets by Virginie Razzano to leave Russia in dire straits at 2-0 down. Sharapova looked all at sea with her serve but she was expected to play Sunday's opening rubber against the in-form Alize Cornet.
However she was dropped for world number fourteen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and the decision proved an inspired one as the teenager rose to the occasion, battling past Cornet 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The experienced Svetlana Kuznetsova then saw off Razzano 6-4, 6-4 before teaming up with Pavlyuchenkova to win the decisive doubles 7-6, 6-0.
Pavlyuchenkova was delighted to have helped Russia seal their place in the semi-finals. "I am really happy that I managed to help Russia get this victory," she said. "I would like to say a big thank you to Svetlana, as she really helped me in this doubles match. We had never played doubles before, which might explain why we had a few problems at the beginning but things became easier as the match went on, and I think that was reflected by the scoreline in the second set."
