Francesca  started her 2011 journey with the Hopman Cup but then retired with an injury against Kristina.  Francesca was seeded 5^th in the 2011 Australian Open and she advanced to the quarter finals for the first time in her career.  At the 2011 Dubai Championship, she was seeded third but unfortunately she lost against Kuznetsova in the 16^th round. Going ahead to the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open Francesca Schiavone lost against Peng Shuai again in the 16t round.  Francesca Shiavone also participated in the 2011 Malaysian Open, 2011 Grand Prix, 2011 Mutua Madrid Open and other but failed to become a champion or completely win any of these tournaments.  In the US Open, Francesca lost in the fourth round while in the China Open Francesca won in the first round but again lost in the second round.

Starting the year 2012, the season started at the Brisbane International where Francesca Shiavone reached the semi finals.  She eventually lost to championship Kaia Kanepi . Francesca also struggled while playing the Fed Cup losing to Lesia. Francesca continued to play the mini cup IN BOTH Doha and Dubai losing in both of them in the seventh seed. As much as she tried the clay courts were just not built for Francesca Shiavone because she came close in many tournaments but could not win any.

Schiavone Video clip Ranking: 4 / five

Safarova was able to get the better of her opponent in the ties first match beating Schiavone two sets to love. However the Italian did put up a fight with the first set being forced to a tie breaker which Safarova was able to win. Kvitova then tightened her Nations grip on the tie by also downing her opponent Sara Errani, two sets to nothing.

The Italian team, which has showed strong form throughout the season, now has an uphill battle in order to stay in the tournament.

The Czech team now only needs one more win to clinch the tie and make an Italian fight back impossible. The players will now swap opponents and play in the reverse singles with a win in either securing the tie for the Czech Republic. If however the Italians do pull off an upset and win both matches then the tie will come down to the doubles match.

While historically teams have used singles players in their doubles teams as well it is unclear whether the sides will use the same players as they have in the singles or whether or not they will opt for fresh legs. The latest tennis betting odds seem to reflect that Italy will be wheeling out its biggest guns, in Schiavone and Petruzzi, in order to try and stay in the tournament.

Italy were Federation Cup champions in 2009 and 2010 but were knocked off the top stop last year by their current opponents the Czech republic.

Schiavone Video Rating: 5 / 5

The Serbian tennis sensation started the match in a classic manner; winning the first 5 games of the first set including two breaks which left Schiavone at a complete loss or words. Schaivone managed to hold just 1 game before having her confidence squeezed again, and losing the first set in record time.

Nothing was going the Italian’s way and she appeared frustrated at her game play. She was nowhere near her brilliant form and her shots were wayward a lot of the time; eveny her favourite forehand winners were failing to find the target.

Francesca Schiavone steadied herself in the break between sets and returned as an improved player; managing to hold on to her serve in the first few games to hold the scores level at 2 – 2. A switch of breaks saw the score tick over to 3 – 3 and with no further drama scores advanced to 4 – 4.

Both of them broke each other three times in succession before Ana Ivanovic managed to hold on to her serve at take the set 7 – 5.

After the match, Ivanovic said that Francesca stepped up and really hung in there and gave her a tough match in the 2nd set. With the pool of women being so small, Ivanovic wasn’t expecting an easy game, and she didn’t get one. Games between Francesca and Ana are always hard-fought, so it was no surprise that once Schaivone got going there was very little to choose between them.

Francesca now has a chance to grab a short break before the tournament in Indian Wells Gardens. Even though she lost today, she remains one of the main contenders for the Grand Slams, and, according to the latest Wimbledon tennis betting, is the favourite to land the Winners plate in London later in the year.

Schiavone Video Score: 5 / 5

But most of the credit for this win has gone to veteran tennis star Francesca Schiavone who made a strong statement of her intentions this year with a strong display against Kateryna Bondarenko, whom she beat in three sets after falling behind very early in the match.

Schiavone won her match 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4 to give the Italians a 2-1 lead in the tie before Ukraine pulled it back to 2-2 and the rest was left with Pennetta and Vinci, which they did quite convincingly. Schiavone, who has been the champion at Roland Garros, the French Open in 2010 and reached the final again last year before losing out to Na Li fell behind very early in the game and almost down and out in the first set, Francesca Schiavone made a strong comeback to take the set to a tie break where she lost 8-6.

She was also down 5-1 in the second set before rallying back to win the set 7-5 and take the match into a tie breaking third set, which she won pretty convincingly with a 6-4 margin. Schiavone has not been in the best of forms over the last year or so and the final of the French Open was her best result but this year, she is already showing signs that she has another Grand Slam in her before she retires.

Francesca Schiavone, at 31 years of age, has served the Italian team over the last 10 or so years and Pennetta and the others want to send her out on a high with a Fed Cup title win.

After such a promising start at Melbourne Park, beating home favourite and current US Open champion Samantha Stosur, expectation of the number 10 seed’s success was high and yet it was the unseeded Romina Oprandi, currently ranked number 80 in the world, who outclassed Schiavone in just the second round of the competition.

Oprandi started the match with a heavily strapped thigh, and repeatedly had treatment for a hamstring problem, and then a foot injury late on in the match. These continual interruptions eventually led Schiavone to complain, but this was ignored, and Oprandi’s injuries didn’t seem to affect her game as she put in a solid performance, with few mistakes, a high first serve percentage, and a very impressive 83% success rate on her second serve points.

In contrast, Schiavone made 35 unforced errors along with 9 double faults, and failed to find the kind of form that she is capable of producing. The match was over in 84 minutes, with Schiavone’s defiance even less noticeable in a short second set.

Schiavone is primarily a clay court player, though she also enjoys quite a lot of success on hard court, so it is a surprise that the Australian Open was such a disappointment for her – last year she made it through to the quarterfinals in Melbourne.

The 31-year old has had a lot of success in recent years, especially in the French Open, and is again one of the favourites according to the best Roland Garros betting odds.

In 2010 the Italian won at Roland Garros after being seeded just 17^th, and almost repeated the feat in 2011, only falling in the final to Li Na. She is now ranked number 11 in the world after achieving a career high of number 4 at the start of 2011.

Schiavone will have plenty of time to prepare for this year’s French Open, the next grand slam, which takes place towards the end of May.

Schiavone Online video Rating: five / five

Defeating Jankovic was what made the tennis community, but she began the Australian Open by defeating the fifth seeded local, Samantha Stosur, in straight sets. Stosur gave up her serve five times before she was finally defeated 6-2, 6-4in an hour and a half by the no. 11 player. Stosur’s loss came soon after her defeat at the hands of the Czech player, Iveta Benesova.

Francesca Schiavone’s match against Jankovic in the quarter finals was a total nail biter. Jankovic was playing very well early on in the match. In the first set, she got an early lead of 3-0. But Schiavone rallied to get her own back in the match and the scores became 3-3.

Soon after, the Italian rallied amazingly to claim another break, but lost her advantage through her own fault when she had two double faults. These came soon after Jankovic decided to consult her coach on the court.  At this point, even the best tennis betting tips websites were saying that punters should back Jankovic, but Schiavone soon managed to prove them all wrong.

Jankovic has recently changed her coach and other members of her management staff in a bid to go up from her current 14^th ranking. The set ended 5-7 in favor of Jankovic. The next set began much like the previous one, with Jankovic looking to finish it off quickly. But they soon started to battle for the breaks and Schiavone broke her opponent’s serve when she was serving for the match at 5-3. Jankovic lost two match points and the set ended at 7-6.

Riding on her momentum, Schiavone dominated the final set, especially in terms of serve which was her major shortcoming in the earlier sets. She won the final set 6-3. Next up in the Brisbane International is Kaia Kanepi.