This Monday world No.11 Angelique Kerber overtook Andrea Petkovic as the highest-ranked German player and started off the Rome tournament with a victory over Anastasia Rodionova, a hard-fought one, though. Seed No.12 Kerber worked her way back from a set down and early breaks in both the second and third set to finally defeat qualifier Rodionova 4-6 7-5 6-2.
Another high-profile German was in action today – Julia Goerges overcame qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak in three sets 6-1 6-7(1) 6-3, but after missing a match point in the second set.
The dramatic windy day on the clay of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia also featured a clash of two Grand Slam champions, even better, the French Open champions – Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Ivanovic produced a fine performance to defeat Kuznetsova 6-4 6-3, performing 100% on the conversion of the five break points she had.
There was another French Open champion in action on the first day of Rome – No.10 seed Francesca Schiavone – but the Italian No.1 ended up as the only seeded casualty of the day, falling to Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-4. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)
