MOSCOW — Anna Chakvetadze and Svetlana Kuznetsova won the singles matches today to give Russia a 2-0 lead over the United States in the World Group semifinal match of the Fed Cup.

Chakvetadze beat Vania King 6-4, 7-5 in the opening match, then Kuznetsova defeated Ahsha Rolle 6-2, 6-1 on indoor clay.

Kuznetsova dominated Rolle, who was making her Fed Cup debut. The world's fourth-ranked player broke her opponent's serve twice in the first set and won five consecutive games in the second to put Russia within one point of its fourth Fed Cup final in five years.

"It was tough for me out there," Rolle said. "She is obviously a great player and a great champion."

Rolle, who is 145th in the WTA rankings, had just four break points in the match.

The Americans are without Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport.

Kuznetsova won the 2004 U.S. Open and has twice been a Grand Slam runner-up. Chakvetadze was a U.S. Open semifinalist last year.

King, in contrast, has never been past the second round at a major tournament, while Rolle's best Grand Slam showing was reaching the third round.

"I was a little bit nervous at the beginning but then I settled down," Rolle said. "There were definitely a couple of points that I could have won and the match would have changed. But it's just inspired me to work hard. I saw how the No. 4 player in the world plays."

King lost to Chakvetadze in the opener in a 3-2 semifinal loss in Stowe, Vt., last year. She was more competitive this time but couldn't take advantage of opportunities.

"Obviously I'm very disappointed that I've lost," King said.

Chakvetadze opened strongly and needed just one break in the fifth game of the opening set to go up in the match. The second set was much like the first, with the Russian breaking King in the fifth game for a 4-2 lead.

But after two double faults by Chakvetadze, King drew even in the set at 4-4. The seventh-ranked Russian broke back and had two match points serving for the win.

King saved both to get to 5-5, only to be broken again in the next game.

"When she saved two match points, I was really disappointed," Chakvetadze said. "I lost concentration. Today, she played very consistently. She did not create anything special but she played consistently through the whole of the match."

The American had one more chance to stay in the match with two break points in the next game. But Chakvetadze saved both and served a winner to close out the match.

"Tennis is a game of two players and it doesn't depend on one person," King said. "When it gets to a tough situation it can go either way, and I think that's happened today."

United States captain Zina Garrison said she was satisfied with her team.

"I'm just very proud of both Vania and Ahsha today," Garrison said. "They did well today playing top-10 players and I expect some good matches tomorrow. And we'll go home and learn from what we did in these days."

After the second reverse singles Sunday, King and Liezel Huber will play the Russian pair of Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina in doubles.

The United States has won a record 17 Fed Cup titles, but none since 2000. Russia has won three titles in the last four years and has not lost at home since hosting France in 2003.

The winner will play Spain or China for the title in September.