REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy — Alexa Glatch and Melanie Oudin lost in straight sets yesterday as Italy took a 2-0 lead over the United States in the Fed Cup final.

Glatch lost to Flavia Pennetta, 6-3, 6-1, and Francesca Schiavone rallied after a two-hour rain delay to defeat Oudin, 7-6 (2), 6-2, on the outdoor red clay court at the Rocco Polimeni club.

"She came out and started playing a lot better and wasn't missing anything when she came back out," Oudin said. "She changed her game a little bit. I did the best I could."

Reverse singles and doubles are scheduled for today in the best-of-five series.

The U.S. has won all nine of its previous meetings with Italy. But the Americans are without Serena and Venus Williams, who opted not to play after meeting in the season-ending tour championships last weekend in Doha, Qatar.

Oudin, who reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, faces Pennetta in the opening singles today.

The 11th-ranked Pennetta used her consistent baseline game to wear down the 132nd-ranked Glatch, breaking early in the first set to set the tone, then cruising in the second set.

The 6-foot Glatch likes to rely on her serve, but she won only 43 percent of the points on her first serve.

"My serve kind of let me down," Glatch said. "I didn't win a lot free points off my serve, so it made it very difficult to hold serve."

Oudin took a 4-2 lead with an early break in the first set before the rain delay. Schiavone broke back in the first game when play resumed, using a drop-shot winner on her first break point.

With the crowd chanting "Fran-CES-ca, Fran-CES-ca" between points, the 18-year-old Oudin maintained her concentration and saved three break points to take a 5-4 lead. She flattened out her forehand for a couple of winners up the line and used an effective drop shot of her own on occasion, yelling "C'mon" whenever she won a big point.

"It's absolutely key playing at home," Schiavone said. "It really helps having the crowd behind you on the important points and the crucial points of the match."

SWISS INDOORS

FEDERER, DJOKOVIC ADVANCE TO FINALS

Roger Federer will play Novak Djokovic in the Swiss Indoors final in a bid for a fourth straight title in his hometown tournament at Basel, Switzerland.

Federer defeated childhood friend Marco Chiudinelli, 7-6 (7), 6-3, in one semifinal. Earlier, Djokovic saved three match points in rallying to beat Radek Stepanek, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2.

Today, Djokovic will face Federer in the arena where the Swiss great was once a ballboy.

"Obviously, the home crowd will be behind him," Djokovic said.

They've split four matches this year, with Federer winning their last meeting in straight sets in the U.S. Open semifinals.

"I'm ready for a tough match. Novak's played solid tennis during the week," said Federer, who has a 9-4 record against Djokovic.

The top-ranked Federer has not lost serve in four matches, though Djokovic, ranked third, will be his first seeded opponent.

VALENCIA OPEN

MURRAY WILL PLAY YOUZHNY FOR TITLE

Top-seeded Andy Murray held off fourth-seeded Fernando Verdasco, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, yesterday to reach the Valencia Open final against Mikhail Youzhny in Valencia, Spain.

Unseeded Youzhny defeated second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in an all-Russian semifinal.

Murray, playing in his first tournament after a six-week layoff because of an injured wrist, will go for his fifth title of the season today.