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France and Italy clash in the Fed Cup World Group First Round which is live here at www.watchlivetennis.org, which starts at 13:00 GMT on the 7^th February 2009 with live tennis streaming direct to your computer. The clash will take place at the Palais du Sport in Orleans, France on hard courts.

 

 

The clash is the 4^th meeting in 6 years for the two nations with Italy claiming the last two victories, however France have won on both occasions that the tie was played on hard courts as they will on Saturday. Both sides are two of the four nations to have competed in every Fed Cup competition to date, with Italy last claiming the cup in 2006 and France in 2003.

 

Nicolas Escude captains the French side this year, with Alize Cornet, Amelie Mauresmo, Nathalie Dechy and Severine Bremond the nations official nominations for the tie. Cornet and Mauresmo lead the line up as the French number one and two respectively in the WTA rankings.

 

Cornet sits in 14^th place on the rankings after making 3 WTA finals last year taking the 2008 Budapest Grand Prix title 7-6, 6-3 against Andreja Klepac. Mauresmo meanwhile has fallen from grace in recent years after the two time Grand Slam winner failed to win a WTA event last year, with her last title coming early in 2007. Dechy is a renowned doubles player with three Grand Slam doubles titles to her name, including two U.S open titles. Bremond was the surprise choice for the French team after the world number 85 is yet to win a WTA title, though she did make the semi-finals of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon.

 

Corrado Barazzutti captains the Italian team this year, with Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci the official nominations for the tie. Pennetta is Italy’s current number one and will lead the line up along with likes of Schiavone. Interestingly Schiavone, Pennetta and Vinci all remain in the squad since winning the Fed Cup in 2006, with Mara Santangelo dropping out and Errani coming in.

 

Pennetta has six WTA single titles to her name with the most recent coming in March 2008 and four WTA doubles titles with the most recent coming just a few weeks ago at the Moorilla Hobart International winning 6-2, 7-6 in the final with Gisela Dulko. Schiavone is a renowned doubles champion with just 1 WTA singles title but 6 WTA doubles titles, reaching the Australian Open doubles semi-final last week losing out to eventual winners the William’s sisters. Youngster Errani earned a call-up to the squad with an impressive 2008, with a double victory in Palermo where she took her first WTA singles title on top of her first WTA doubles title. Vinci is better known for her doubles prowess but the Italians last win came in a singles competition at the Copa Colsanitas in 2007.

 

 

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Tags: France, Italy, Fed Cup, live tennis, Mara Santangelo, live tennis streaming