World No.4 Jelena Jankovic admitted a month and a half ago that her disappointing tennis results had a lot to do with her worrying about her mother Snezana's health. Now, the situation is much better and Jankovic is ready to take on the challenge of winning the third Rome title in a row.

Things are going much better. My mother was not feeling well, and it was very hard for me to compete for the last few months because I'm very emotional and very sensitive person. The most important thing is the health, of myself and the closest ones in my family. In bad moments I don't really think about tennis, I don't think about the game. I just hope and pray everything will be okay with my mother and she will be healthy.

Jankovic is content with her claycourt performance so far this year:

I won the tournament in Marbella, and then I won nine matches in a row and then lost just two days ago against Pennetta in a tough match. I'm doing much, much better and I'm improving each day and playing better tennis, and that is something that I'm really happy about.

I'm really happy to hear that things are moving in the favorable direction. Many of us were waiting for the news about Snezana's health. (source: Earth Times, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Ana Ivanovic and Victoria Azarenka played a promotional exhibition match on the terrace of Villa Miani, overlooking the city of Rome. Read more »

Svetlana Kuznetsova, who had lost her last six finals, defeated world No.1 Dinara Safina 6-4 6-3 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to win her first title since August 2007.

Kuznetsova was in command in the all-Russian final and sent Safina to a third final defeat of the season, after Sydney and Australian Open. Safina had five break points, but converted none of them, while Kuznetsova the 2004 US Open champion now ranked No. 9, converted two out of four.

Safina was playing her first tournament since becoming No.1. Kuznetsova will definitely remember this victory, it’s her first title in a long time, plus, she won the white Porsche. (photo via Yahoo)

Top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain won her ninth career title after just one hour of play in the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem final, beating sixth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-0 6-1.

The world No.18 Medina Garrigues, last year’s runner-up at Fes, faced three match points earlier in the week, but in the final she lost just one game.

The world No.51 Makarova was trying to win her first WTA Tour title, but had her serve broken three times in each set.

Later this month Medina Garrigues will look for a third straight title at the clay-court tournament in Strasbourg. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

World No.1 and top seed Dinara Safina once again used her impressive comeback skills to defeat Flavia Pennetta 3-6 7-5 6-0 and reach the Stuttgart final where she will face fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The world No.14 Pennetta seemed to be on a good way to victory as she won the first set and was close to winning the second, too. However, when Safina leveled at 5-5 in the second set, she never looked back and won the next eight games. Pennetta showed powerful groundstrokes, but as she lost her chances she became burnt out and Safina started dominating.

Safina now has a 6-0 head-to-head record against Pennetta.

Earlier, fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova crushed compatriot and second seed Elena Dementieva 6-4 6-2 with surprising ease in just 67 minutes to book her place in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final.

In Sunday’s final Kuznetsova will be trying to win her first tournament since New Haven in 2007. Safina will be going for her first title of the season, after losing in two finals in 2009, in Sydney and at the Australian Open. (photos via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic will not add the white Porsche to her car collection, as she was beaten in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix by Flavia Pennetta.

I have to say it’s a pity we won’t see Jelena’s proud photos next to this luxurious car. Remember those with the red Porsche she won last year in Stuttgart?

The world No.14 Pennetta won the quarterfinal 2-6 6-4 6-4. Jankovic managed to come back from 2-0 down in the third set, and had her chance to end it as a victor, but dropped her serve in the seventh game once again. Pennetta then kept the lead and entered the semifinals on the first match point.

Pennetta will next face the winner of the match between world No.1 Dinara Safina and Agnieszka Radwanska. Second seed Elena Dementieva and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova are the other semifinal pair. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)