Half of the women’s first round matches are finished, and players seeded number 31 and 11 are sent home.

On Monday, France’s Severine Bremond, seeded 31, was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands (sister of Richard, the 1996 Wimbledon Champion). When her first serve was in, she won 78% of the points, while her seeded opponent won only 48%.

At her home Grand Slam, Bremond has made it past the first round only once, in 2005. This year, the 28-year-old has played six clay tournaments, but reached the second round only twice.

The second seed to fall was Nadia Petrova. Last year, she had a great clay season, but also lost in the first round of the French Open. The Russian, seeded 11, suffered a 5-7 7-5 0-6 lost to Czech qualifier Kveta Peschke.

Petrova, who pulled out of the Italian Open with a back problem, struggled with her movement and had treatment at the start of the second set.

The 24-year-old will have an MRI scan and fears she could miss Wimbledon. Petrova, a two-time semi-finalist at Roland Garros, missed Wimbledon last year because of a hip injury.

"I am trying to stay positive in my head, but I really don't know if I will be okay," she said.

"I just really hope that in the end it's not that serious. I don't want to miss the grasscourt season again." (source: BBC Sport)

Internazionali BNL d'Italia is the most prestigious clay-court tournament after Roland Garros. It is a Tier I event with the prize money of $1,340,000.

Amelie Mauresmo of France is seeded at the top. She is the 2004 and 2005 winner, and in 2000, 2001 and 2003 she was in the final. Although world No. 4 has only recently returned to tennis, after a break caused by her appendix operation, she is still one of the favorites to take the trophy.

Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova hasn't had a very satisfying year — she was a runner-up three times (in Doha, Indian Wells, and last week in Berlin). Still, without doubt, she has a potential to make Rome her first title of 2007.

World No. 5 Jelena Jankovic is definitely in good form. The Serbian has already collected two titles in 2007– Auckland and Charleston. We can expect a lot from her.

Although Serena Williams hasn't played since the Fed Cup first round in April, the 2002 champion, this year seeded 8th, is certainly someone we can't discount. She has been superb this season winning the Australian Open and Sony Ericsson Open. What more can you ask for?

Nadia Petrova of Russia is seeded fifth. She won three consecutive titles on clay last year. Her compatriot Dinara Safina, seeded sixth, reached the final on clay in Charleston, as well as last year in Rome when she was defeated by Martina Hingis.

Other players making up the top 8 seeds are Nicole Vaidisova and Anna Chakvetadze. We expect some good action from them as well.

We should also mention No. 12th seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia who won a tournament in Berlin a few days ago and entered the top 10 for the first time in her career. In Rome's quarterfinals we might have a chance to watch a re-run of Berlin's final with Kuznetsova.

Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis won't play this year because of injuries, while world No.1 Justine Henin didn't enter. (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Russians Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze overcame the cold and wind and reached the second round of the J&S Cup. "The conditions were I think the worst," Petrova said. "It was cold, it was windy — before we went on it was a little bit drizzling."

Fifth seed Petrova downed Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-3, 7-5. The 24-year-old Petrova, who won three clay-court titles last season, had little trouble overpowering her 17-year-old opponent. Still, she wasn't completely satisfied with her play — "I really had a difficult time because last week I didn't do much practising." In the second round, Petrova meets Mara Santangelo of Italy, who beat Severine Bremond of France 6-2, 6-3.

Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze was better than her American opponent Jill Craybas. The Russian won in straight sets, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5. Anna's next opponent will be the winner of the match Tathiana Garbin vs. Laura Granville.

(sources: ESPN, BBC Sport)

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.

The first player to enter the semifinals at Amelia Island was sixth-seeded Ana Ivanovic who defeated second seed and compatriot Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-3. In the following match, Venus Williams was ousted by France's Tatiana Golovin 6-2, 6-3. The third member of the last four is Austria's Sybille Bammer who crushed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. The last match of the quarterfinals was played by two Russian players; Nadia Petrova, the defending champion, advanced to the semifinals by beating fifth-seeded Dinara Safina 6-4, 7-5. The semifinal matches are scheduled to start today at 1:00 PM local time.

Nadia Petrova is one step closer to defending her title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida. After having a bye in round one, she reaches the third round by beating Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. Her next opponent will be Zheng Jie of China.

(source: BBC Sport)