The Fed Cup is set to make an exciting return on SaturdayIn perhaps the biggest tie of the weekend, Australia will meet Italy in the Fed Cup. Australia are the home side for this clash, and the matches will be played in Hobart. The superb duo of Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta will be aiming to get Italy off to a good start in their bid to retain the Fed Cup. Australia are hoping to make a bright return to the World Group here, and Samantha Stosur and Jarmila Groth will lead their charge.
The Belgium v USA contest will also begin on Saturday. Belgium are ranked eighth, and the U.S.A are currently second. Despite this, Yanina Wickmayer and Kim Clijsters are both on court on Saturday, and look ready to earn Belgium a vital win. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Melanie Oudin will no doubt be fired up for their matches, but this looks like a steep challenge for both players.
The other two World Group matches are Russia v France, and Czech Repbublic v Slovak Republic. These could both go down to the fifth match, and there should be some thrilling matchups. In the Russia v France clash, Svetlana Kuznetsova is in for a real test against Alize Cornet. Maria Sharapova and Virginie Razzano will meet in the other game. Sharapova enters this match as the favourite.
In the match between Slovak Republic and Czech Republic, Daniela Hantuchova is up against Lucie Safarova, and Dominika Cibulkova faces Petra Kvitova. These could both be close matches, and it will be intriguing to see how the scoreline stands at the end of the day.
There will also be matches from other Fed Cup groups.
Fed Cup order of play 5.2.2011 (All times GMT)Australia v Italy02:00 Jarmila Groth v Francesca Schiavone
03:30 Samantha Stosur v Flavia Pennetta
Russia v France 12:00 Svetlana Kuznetsova v Alize Cornet
Estonia v Spain12:00 Anett Kontaveit v Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
Slovenia v Germany 12:00 Masa Zec Peskiric v Andrea Petkovic
Sweden v Ukraine 12:00 Sofia Arvidsson v Lesia Tsurenko
Belgium v USA 12:30 Yanina Wickmayer v Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Slovak Republic v Czech Republic13:00 Daniela Hantuchova v Lucie Safarova
Russia v France 13:30 Maria Sharapova v Virginie Razzano
Estonia v Spain13:30 Kaia Kanepi v Carla Suarez Navarro
Slovenia v Germany 13:30 Polona Hercog v Julia Goerges
Sweden v Ukraine13:30 Johanna Larsson v Kateryna Bondarenko
Belgium v USA 14:00 Kim Clijsters v Melanie Oudin
Slovak Republic v Czech Republic14:30 Dominika Cibulkova v Petra Kvitova
