Anna Chakvetadze beat Vania King 6-4 7-5 in the opening singles to give holders Russia a 1-0 lead in their Fed Cup semi-final against the United States.

Follow LIVE scoring as world number four Svetlana Kuznetsova plays Ahsha Rolle, making her Fed Cup debut, in the second singles rubber by clicking on the link below the photo.

World number seven Chakvetadze broke the 115th-ranked King in the fifth game to go on to take the first set.

She repeated the trick in the fifth game of the second set to go up 3-2 but then had to work harder after losing her serve in the eighth game when she double-faulted twice in a row.

Chakvetadze broke back in the next game to lead 5-4. She then wasted two match points before double-faulting once more on a break point, gifting her opponent the 10th game.

After breaking King again in the next game, the 21-year-old finally held her nerve by saving two break points in the 12th game before sealing victory after 84 minutes.

Chakvetadze, who crushed King 6-1 6-3 in last year's Fed Cup semi-final in Vermont -- their only previous meeting, blamed her nerves for failing to close out the match earlier.

"I had two match points at 5-4 40-15 and instead of going for it I started to play more cautious," she said.

"And after she saved those match points my nerves got to me and I lost my concentration. But I was able to overcome that problem."

King was optimistic despite the defeat.

"I'm pretty happy with my play, although I'm disappointed to lose," she said.

"Actually I feel like my game has improved from last year and I feel like I can beat almost anyone."

Reuters