Fed Cup semifinal sites announced

LONDON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Serbia heads to Russia and Italy will play at the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup semifinals in April, tournament organizers said.

Those four teams won quarterfinals series earlier this month. The winners of the best-of-five semifinals April 21-22 advance to the Fed Cup title series Nov. 3-4.

The four semifinalists represent countries that have won the last eight Fed Cups and finished second twice in that span.

The Czechs are the defending Fed Cup champions, winning their sixth title in 2001 after Italy had won three times in four years, including 2009 and 2010.

Italy holds a 4-3 series advantage over the Czechs. That includes a 5-0 sweep in the 2010 semifinals. Italy has won the last four meetings, with the most recent Czech win in 1993.

Russia is 3-0 versus Serbia, which is yet to win a Fed Cup championship. Russia has won four times in recent years with back-to-back titles in 2004-05 and again in 2007-08.

Fed Cup officials also announced pairings Tuesday for the World Group playoffs, with spots in the 2013 World Group awarded to the winners.

The United States travels to play Ukraine while Belgium plays at Japan and Spain is the host team for the Slovak Republic. The fourth pairing has Australia at Germany. Those series are also April 21-22.