Samantha Stosur, ranked 29th in the world, caused the first major upset at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, defeating top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in a nail-biting match that lasted almost three hours.

They played shot for shot, the result 75 67(4) 76(7) illustrates best how tight the match was. Both of them were close to victory several times. The Australian saved two match points. The French, later on, managed to save one match point, but lost the second one.

On paper, Mauremo was a heavy favorite — she's a former world No. 1 who grew up on clay. On the other hand, Stosur admits that clay isn't her preferred surface.

This is Samantha's first win over Amelie in their six meetings. It seems that Mauresmo still needs to get into rhythm after her two-month break caused by an appendix surgery. "I have nothing much to say but that I'm just disappointed, and obviously I guess the lack of matches showed a little bit at that moment," she said.

Both of them played well, but the Australian seemed to be emotionally stronger this time. I have to say that Stosur fascinated me with her mental stamina throughout the match. (sources: TennisX, BBC Sport)

Amelie Mauresmo had to have her appendix removed in mid-April. She's recovered a great deal, but still, she's not ready enough to compete in J&S Cup, which takes place in Warsaw next week.

The French number 1 decided to make a comeback in Berlin, at Qatar Telecom German Open, a $1,340,000 tournament which starts on May 7. After Berlin, Mauresmo will play in Rome, and after Rome, she'll have intensive training to prepare for the second Grand Slam of the year, Roland Garros.

(via Amelie Mauresmo's official website)

Only three women from the top ten will take part in the first round of the Fed Cup — Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze; they are all representatives of Russia.

Why won't the other highly ranked players compete in the Fed Cup?

• Top-ranked Justine Henin of Belgium wants to have enough time to prepare for the clay-season, as well as to treat her breathing problems. Her next tournament will be Warsaw, starting April 30.
• Maria Sharapova, Russia's highest-ranked player, won't make her Fed Cup debut because of injured shoulder and hamstring.
• France's Amelie Mauresmo is recovering from her appendectomy.
• Kim Clijsters, another Belgian top player, decided to skip the Fed Cup because of her busy schedule.
• Countries of Martina Hingis (Switzerland), Nicole Vaidisova (the Czech Republic) and Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) are not in the World Group.

After Amelie Mauresmo had her appendix out last month, she had to stay inactive for two weeks. These days she announced on her official website that she is feeling fine and that she started working out again. She's been jogging in Geneva surrounded by her dogs. World's No. 3 female player also said that she can't wait to get back to the court again; two weeks of inactivity are a lot for a professional athlete and she started feeling restless.

(source: Amelie Mauresmo's website)

I have already mentioned that Justine Henin won't play until April 30 (Warsaw – J&S Cup) due to her breathing problems. Amelie Mauresmo is still recovering from her appendectomy. And, Maria Sharapova, who was supposed to make her debut this year at the Fed Cup, announced that she will miss both the Fed Cup and the Family Circle Cup because of her shoulder injury and problems with the left hamstring. We'll see her on court again after 5-6 weeks.