Defending champions Russia [Images] took an unassailable 3-1 lead over Israel in their Fed Cup world group first-round tie on Sunday after Maria Sharapova [Images] and Anna Chakvetadze [Images] won their singles rubbers.

Russia advance to a semi-final showdown on April 26-27 with the winners of the tie between the United States and Germany [Images]. Israel will play to avoid relegation from the world group.

Russia's world number seven Chakvetadze secured the tie after seeing off a brave challenge from Israel's Tzipi Obziler to win 6-4, 6-2.

The Russian came back from 3-0 down in the first set and shut out the chanting from a hostile home crowd who sensed they might be able to unsettle Chakvetadze if Obziler could stay with her.

Chakvetadze was too good for her veteran opponent who was never able to threaten her on the important points.

"I started off slowly but then I managed to get into the match," said Chakvetadze, who was critical of the hostile crowd.

"I think they (the crowd) should be a little more respectful ... all we ask that they are a little more quiet during the points."

Obziler said she had done her best but was beaten by a better player.

"I lost the momentum after a good start, perhaps I could have done some things better but today proved the difference in standard between us," the Israeli said.

Earlier on Sunday, Sharapova crushed Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1 to give the Russians a 2-1 lead in the tie much to the disappointment of the 5,000 boisterous home fans.

The Israeli number one had no answer to the Australian Open champion's powerful groundstrokes and Sharapova broke Peer six times to win in an hour and 14 minutes.

On Saturday, Sharapova beat Obziler to level the tie after Peer had beaten Dinara Safina.

World number five Sharapova said she was not surprised by the outcome of her match against Peer, ranked 17th in the world.

"I have a good past record against her and I was not surprised ... I hit a very powerful flat ball and she is more defensive, so it does not surprise me," Sharapova said.

Peer agreed that she was beaten by the better player but did not think the match was as one-sided as the scoreline suggested.

"She put real pressure on me from the start and didn't give me a chance to breathe, she won all the important points but it was really tougher than that," Peer said..

• Complete tennis coverage
• All you want to know about Sania Mirza