Jarmila Groth and Francesca Schiavone will play the first match of the Italy v Australia Fed Cup World Group contest

Saturday’s match between Jarmila Groth and Francesca Schiavone will mark the start of the Fed Cup World Group tie between Australia and Italy. This will be the beginning of Italy’s bid to retain the title, and will also be a significant contest for Australia, who achieved promotion to the World Group last season.

World No. 31 Jarmila Groth is making her Fed Cup debut here, and admitted in a recent interview that she faces a difficult challenge on Saturday. “Playing Francesca will be very tough. She is a great player and has had great results like winning a Grand Slam, and it will be an honour to play her, which I haven’t done before”.

Schiavone recently became the world No. 4 following a quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open. She also won the WTA Hobart Open title three weeks ago, so she knows this court well. It may be tougher for her this time around, as she’s likely to encounter a partisan crowd this weekend.  

Schiavone will enter this match as the favourite, though Groth is likely to be competitive at the very least. The home advantage might also turn out to be a factor in this match, and Groth will be out to impress in her first match for the Australian Fed Cup team.