• Fed Cup, Day One

Pennetta slays Stosur to level tie

Flavia Pennetta held her nerve to take out Sam Stosur © Getty Images

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• Profile: Jarmila Gajdosova | Flavia Pennetta | Francesca Schiavone | Sam Stosur

Flavia Pennetta produced a brilliant effort to defeat Sam Stosur to level holders Italy's Fed Cup tie with Australia at 1-1 after the opening day's singles.

Jarmila Groth got Australia off to a brilliant start when winning her first Fed Cup singles match against Francesca Schiavone 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3. Groth's only previous outing in Fed Cup came in a doubles clash in 2003, but she revelled in the support from the Australian crowd in Hobart to rally from a set down to beat the French Open winner.

Groth's success was a huge shock and many felt it would catapult Australia towards victory, but Pennetta had not read the script as, following a rain delay, she stood toe-to-toe with home favourite and world No. 5 Stosur.

It proved to be an epic contest, as Stosur took the second set in a tiebreak after losing the first in a breaker. The final set saw both players strive for the win and it was Pennetta who sealed a famous success 6-4 in the third.

"We both fought hard and wanted to win the point for our teams," Pennetta told the official Fed Cup website. "She had a few chances in the first and second sets but I was playing well. This match was decided by one or two points and it was a really good match."

Kim Clijsters put Belgium on the verge of the Fed Cup semi-finals after a simple victory over Melanie Oudin in Antwerp. World No. 2 Clijsters gave the Belgians a 2-0 lead with a 6-0 6-4 win after Yanina Wickmayer had beaten Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1 7-6(6).

World No. 83 Virginie Razzano stunned Maria Sharapova to give France a shock 2-0 lead against Russia in Moscow. Alize Cornet had battled back from a set down to beat two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 3-6 4-6 earlier, and Razzano put France in the driving seat after a 3-6 4-6 win over the three-time major winner.

Czech Republic are within one win of the semi-finals after taking a 2-0 lead against Slovakia in Bratislava on Saturday. Lucie Safarova got the Czechs off to a flying start with a 7-5 6-1 win over Daniela Hantuchova before Petra Kvitova made it 2-0 with a 2-6 3-6 win over Dominika Cibulkova.

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