Mauresmo defeated; Italy tied with France

Castellaneta Marina, Italy (Sports Network) - Francesca Schiavone stunned former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in straight sets Saturday to help Italy draw even with France after the first day of their Fed Cup semifinal matchup at Nova Yardina.
Schiavone, the 31st-ranked player in the world, followed a strong first set and an early break in the second to escape with the 7-5, 6-3 win. The Italian broke Mauresmo, the sixth ranked player, to go ahead 1-0 in the second and held serve the rest of the way on the red clay.
Earlier in the day, France's Tatiana Golovin defeated Italy's Tathiana Garbin, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
After Garbin won the final five games of the second to force the decisive set, the duo exchanged a pair of breaks early in the third. Then, on serve at 3-2, Golovin broke Garbin to take control on her way to winning the final four games of the set for the win.
For the match, Golovin converted 7-of-12 break points.
Sunday's reverse singles currently call for Garbin to take on Mauresmo and Schiavone to tangle with Golovin, while Sunday's potentially-deciding doubles rubber will pit an Italian tandem of Mara Santangelo and Roberta Vinci against a French duo of Severine Bremond and Nathalie Dechy.
France is captained by Georges Goven, while the hosts are skippered by Corrado Barazzutti.
The Italians corralled their first-ever Fed Cup championship last year by topping Belgium 3-2 in the final in Charleroi.
France is a two-time champion in this team event, capturing the chalice in 1997 and 2003. The French also posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2005.
The French are a commanding 6-1 all-time against the Italians, dating back to 1970, but Italy's lone victory in the series came in last year's opening round (4-1) in France.
Italy and France are two of only four nations to have competed in every Fed Cup.
The Italy-France winner will meet the United States-Russia victor in the World Group final in mid-September.