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LLEIDA, Spain (AP) — Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro gave Spain a 2-0 lead over Italy after winning the opening matches of their Fed Cup World Group playoff on Saturday.
Fourth-ranked Muguruza beat Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (4), 6-0, before Suarez Navarro eased past Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1 on the outdoor red clay court in Lleida.
Schiavone was a last-minute substitute after Sara Errani strained a muscle in her right leg.
Schiavone converted her sole break chance to force a first-set tiebreaker, in which Muguruza rallied from trailing 4-2, helped by four errors in the last five points by her opponent.
The Wimbledon runner-up dominated the second set to take her Fed Cup record to 5-0.
"I was nervous early on, but in the second set I calmed down and was able to show that I could play better," Muguruza said.
Suarez Navarro broke Vinci's first service game and never looked back, cruising to Spain's second point in just over an hour.
The reverse singles and doubles match are set for Sunday.
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