Fed Cup: Russia left with uphill struggle

Maria Sharapova's absence from Russia's singles line-up proved costly as they fell 2-0 down to Netherlands in the Fed Cup first round on Saturday.

Sharapova has been told she must play in the competition if she wants to feature at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this year, but she had been hoping to sit out the opening tie in order to rest a forearm injury.

She has, nevertheless, been named as part of Sunday's doubles team, although the fixture could be over by the time she even takes to the court.

Kiki Bertens opened the tie with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Ekaterina Makarova – ranked 100 places higher than her opponent – before world number 141 Richel Hogenkamp pulled off an even bigger upset against Svetlana Kuznetsova, winning 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 10-8 in four hours.

The remaining ties are all finely poised at 1-1, with Monica Niculescu pulling Romania level against defending champions the Czech Republic after Simona Halep had lost 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 to Karolina Pliskova.

Niculescu stunned Petra Kvitova 6-3 6-4, overcoming an early break in the second set to emerge with a potentially crucial victory.

The trend for upsets carried into France's clash with Italy, which saw Camila Giorgi triumph over Kristina Mladenovic, while Caroline Garcia got the better of Sara Errani.

There were no such shock results in Germany's meeting with Switzerland, though, as Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber made short work of Timea Bacsinszky in a 6-1 6-3 win, levelling the match after Belinda Bencic beat Andrea Petkovic.