Russian world number five Maria Sharapova eased past Israeli Tzipi Obziler 6-0 6-4 to level the scores at 1-1 in their Fed Cup World Group first-round tie.

Israel had gone ahead in the first match of the day when Shahar Peer beat Dinara Safina 0-6 6-2 6-2.

Australian Open champion Sharapova had far too much power for Obziler, who could find no answer to the tall Russian's baseline winners.

But Obziler, ranked 85 in the world put up more of a fight in the second set as errors crept into Sharapova's game.

She wowed the crowd by coming back from came back from 4-0 and 5-1 down to creep back to 5-4 before Sharapova closed out the match.

Sharapova, 20, said even though the crowd was against her it was something she revelled in.

"I love it... it actually gives me energy, as an athlete this is what I play for and it drives me to do better," she said.

Obziler, 35, said it took her time to get used to the conditions and playing in front of home spectators.

"I had to learn to deal with the conditions and the support of the crowd, it was a bit late for me, I'm sorry to say," she said.

In the opening match, world number 17 Peer started nervously while Safina did not put a foot wrong, pounding winners from the baseline at will and completing the first-set whitewash in 25 minutes.

Safina's confidence suffered as Peer got into the match.

Once the home favourite's baseline game got going and she was able to force errors from the Russian, the momentum began swinging Peer's way.

She broke Safina, ranked one place above her, three times in the second set to level the match and overcame a tentative start in the final one to win it 6-2.

"This was perhaps my sweetest comeback, I saw the crowd who had all come to watch us and I know that I could not let them down," Peer said.

A disappointed Safina said she had played the match wrong tactically.

"She was not in the match at all in the first set, and I hit winners, but later she got into the match and I played into her hands and made too many mistakes."

The tie will be completed with Peer playing Sharapova in the first of the two reverse singles rubbers, followed by Obziler, probably against Anna Chakvetadze, and the concluding doubles.

China 2-0 France

Chinese number two Shuai Peng upset Virginie Razzano 4-6 6-3 6-4 to give China a 2-0 lead in their world group tie against France after Na Li overcame a slow start in the opening match to hammer tournament debutant Alize Cornet 6-3 6-1.

Peng will miss the reverse singles to prepare for next week's Paris Open in order to gain enough points to qualify for Olympics tennis.

"They decided I would play a game today and take a plane tonight to get to France and play a tournament straight away," Peng said.

China captain Jiang Hongwei said they had not decided on a replacement to play France's Cornet.

France captain Georges Goven said the change would not affect the team's preparations.

"I think that if the Chinese do that, they are very confident they can win one tie or three tomorrow. But the match is not finished for us, obviously, and I still think we can win three ties tomorrow," Goven said.

World number 51 Peng came back from a set down and held her nerve against Razzano, who appeared to tire in the third set.

At 4-4 in the third, the 22-year-old broke Razzano's serve, after forcing three errors through clean returns. She then served out the set 6-4, delighting the small but vocal crowd at the Beijing International Tennis Centre.

"Today I felt quite nervous at the start, because it was a home game and I was playing for China for the first time," Peng said.

"In the second set I felt the fans cheering me and urging me not to give in. I felt I played at just about my best level so it felt great to win."

Chinese number one Li appeared nervous in front of her home fans and went 2-0 down to 18-year-old Cornet in the first set, before winning five consecutive games.

Her dominance carried over to the second set, where she broke Cornet immediately, before hammering her 6-1 in an impressive display of powerful strokeplay.

"I don't really know the French teams' players too well or what their games are like, so I just concentrated on playing my own game," Li, 25, said.

France, having fielded a second-string side after Amelie Mauresmo and Marion Bartoli opted out of the tie, will hope Razzano and Nathalie Dechy can upset former Wimbledon and Australia Open doubles champions Yan Zi and Zheng Jie in the next rubber.

Italy 0-2 Spain

Nuria Llagostera Vives did not let a leaking roof distract her from helping Spain to a 2-0 lead over Italy in Naples.

The 136th-ranked Llagostera Vives stunned Italy number one Francesca Schiavone to win 7-6 3-6 6-2 before Spain's top player Anabel Medina Garrigues swatted aside Flavia Pennetta.

Medina Garrigues romped to a 6-2 6-3 victory to give Spain a huge chance of toppling the 2006 champions with the reverse singles and one doubles match scheduled for Sunday.

Llagostera Vives triumphed after the players had been forced off for almost an hour because of rain water dripping through the roof and on to the court at the indoor PalaVesuvio arena.

The Spaniard, 2-1 up in the third set when play was halted, immediately took the initiative when the pair returned and held on for victory.

She denied the delay had been to her advantage.

"It was a problem for both of us. It was dangerous for the two of us and we couldn't play anymore," Llagostera Vives said.

Naples was allowed to host the tie despite a rubbish crisis where every dump was declared full and garbage piled up in the streets.

The roof of the ageing arena is also quite low and was struck by the ball on one occasion but Schiavone refused to blame the conditions.

"I made three or four errors at important times and it cost me the match. At the break I was thinking I could make a change and it would favour me but instead she played well," she said.

Llagostera Vives took the first set 7-4 in the tiebreak after Schiavone, inspirational in Italy's run to last year's final, was first troubled by a small puddle behind the baseline.

World number 23 Schiavone double-faulted to hand Llagostera Vives the advantage at 3-2, but hit straight back after a tight game to make it 3-3 before they exchanged breaks again.

Llagostera Vives prevailed in the tiebreak before Schiavone broke twice to claim the second set with some aggressive play.

In the second rubber, Medina Garrigues broke early to go 3-1 up with Pennetta then wasting three break points in the next game and losing confidence.

The second set went against serve until Medina Garrigues held for 3-2 and the world number 30 never looked back with some effective if not spectacular hitting.

USA 1-1 Germany

Cup debutant Ashley Harkleroad spared the blushes for the USA by crushing Germany's Tatjana Malek 6-1 6-3 to level the scores at 1-1 in their world group first round tie.

German teenager Sabine Lisicki had stunned former world number one Lindsay Davenport 6-1 7-5 in the opening singles match of the two-day tie at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.

Harkleroad, 22, swept through the first set against the number one player on Germany's team and broke her opponent in the fifth and ninth games of the second to complete a one-sided victory on the hard outdoor surface.

It was Malek's first defeat in five Fed Cup singles matches and restored USA fortunes as the 17-times champions seek their first title in the team competition since 2000.

"I was expecting anything really," world number 76 Harkleroad told reporters after outclassing the 87th-ranked Malek. "You can't really go out there and put so much pressure on Lindsay to win all her matches.

"I was just trying to stay focused on myself. I felt the crowd behind me and it as pretty much everything I expected it to be. I was excited, I had fun and I dealt with my nerves well so I am very happy."

18-year-old Lisicki, ranked 130th in the world, had stunned the partisan crowd by producing one of the biggest upsets in Fed Cup history, sealing victory in 84 minutes.

Davenport's shock defeat ended a run of 19 consecutive wins by the American in Fed Cup singles matches.

"Lindsay is such a great champion and I just beat her," a beaming Lisicki said. "I am really excited."

Asked how she had set up the biggest victory of her career, the German replied: "Just playing my game. Hitting my balls and mixing it up."

Lisicki, who had never previously played against Davenport, was delighted to give unfancied Germany an early advantage in the team competition.

"I think nobody thought that it would be that way," said Lisicki, who reached the third round of last month's Australian Open after winning three qualifying matches.

With her forehand groundstrokes in sparkling order, Lisicki broke a surprisingly error-prone Davenport in the second and sixth games to forge 6-1 ahead.

Davenport, moving more freely around the court, took early control in the second set when she broke Lisicki in the sixth game, her opponent having delivered successive double faults.

A strong service game put the American 5-2 up but her opponent broke back in the ninth and survived a set point in a tight 10th game before holding serve for 5-5.

With the momentum shifting back in her favour, Lisicki unleashed a rasping backhand winner down the line off Davenport's serve to break the American in the 11th game.

Although Davenport survived two match points, Lisicki held serve to wrap up victory in front of a subdued crowd.

Reuters