Even without two injured players, Russia still had enough tennis talent to overcome slugging Venus Williams and the United States 3-2 today in the semifinals of the Fed Cup.

Russia advanced to the Fed Cup final against Italy, which eliminated France earlier today.

"Their depth is very strong, that's the difference," U.S. captain Zina Garrison said. "They can go to almost anyone."

Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev took things further, saying he could choose from as many as 15 women and still compete for the Cup. The ones who did the damage Sunday were Nadia Petrova and Elena Vesnina.

Petrova evened the series 2-2 by crushing Cup newcomer Meilen Tu, 6-1, 6-2, after Williams gave the U.S. the series lead by powering past Anna Chakvetadze, 6-1, 6-4.

With the outcome on the line, Garrison substituted Williams into the doubles with No. 2-ranked doubles player Lisa Raymond, but it didn't help as Petrova and Vesnina came away with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) victory.

Williams, fresh from winning Wimbledon last weekend, gave the Americans their other point with a three-set victory over Petrova on Saturday. But Vania King, ranked 84th, lost easily to Petrova.

Tu, ranked 43rd, and King were playing because Venus' sister, Serena, pulled out with an injury last week.

Although the Russians were missing injured Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, they came out with Chakvetadze and Petrova _ ranked eighth and ninth in the world _ and Vesnina.

In the doubles, Vesnina held serve to give the Russians a 6-5 lead. The pair then broke Raymond when Vesnina slammed a return down the line for a winner and Williams netted a volley.

The Americans took a 4-3 lead in the second set with a break against Vesnina's serve. But the Russians broke back in the next game after three deuces when Vesnina won two points at the net.

In the tiebreaker, Petrova double-faulted on the first point, but the Russians swept the next seven points, including some fine returns by Vesnina off Williams.

"They really got some lucky shots, I mean off my serve," Williams said. "Normally, I'm never going to lose two points in the tiebreaker on my serve."

"Now she heard about me; now she knows me," Vesnina said, laughing when asked about Williams' comment that she had never heard of Vesnina before the matches.

"It's one of the best moments in my life. I was so nervous before the match. So this match was just unbelievable, just incredible."