Defending champion Jelena Jankovic, seeded fourth, dismantled Venus Williams' power game and advanced to the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Jankovic defeated Williams 5-7 6-3 6-2.

"I was fighting for every point," said the world No.4. "Venus is really strong, and to win you have to really play your best."

I didn’t get to see the match, but as I can read in the news, Williams was let down by her forehand.

In the semis Jelena Jankovic will meet either ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder or second-seeded Maria Sharapova, who are now playing their quarterfinal. The other semifinal will feature French qualifier Alize Cornet, who advanced as injured Serena Williams withdrew, and sixth seed Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

Fifth-seeded Serena Williams withdrew from her Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarterfinal against French qualifier Alize Cornet due to a back injury.

Williams’ withdrawal gives world No.34 Cornet a walkover to the semifinals, where she'll face Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze, a 6-2 3-6 6-1 winner over Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova. Remember, Pironkova was the one who stunned top seed Ana Ivanovic. (photo via Getty Images)

Seed No.1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia suffered a shock 6-4 5-7 6-2 loss to Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.

The fact that Ivanovic lost so early into a tournament would have been a much bigger news item, but now that Justine Henin has retired so unexpectedly, everything else in tennis will be in shade for some time.

Anyway, Ivanovic, who became top seed when Justine Henin pulled out, was never comfortable on the clay and committed 59 unforced errors to Pironkova's 26. Also, in the second set Ivanovic twice surrendered a break advantage.

Both the Williams sisters advanced on Wednesday – Serena defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-2 6-0, and Venus beat Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-1. Also, defending champion Jelena Jankovic beat Flavia Pennetta 6-1 6-4. (via BBC)

Last week was one of the most memorable times in Dinara Safina's career, as she won the Qatar Telecom German Open beating three Top 10 players on the way. Today, the Russian has withdrawn from the tournament following the one in Berlin.

World No.14 Safina is out of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and the official reason for her withdrawal is a back injury. Read more »

World No.21 Tatiana Golovin has withdrawn from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Internationaux de Strasbourg, and from her home Grand Slam, Roland Garros.

It's a pity, Golovin skipped Roland Garros last year too, the reason was an ankle injury. This year, she has withdrawn, presumably, because of a failure to recover completely from surgery — she had to remove a cyst from her hip. Well, at least Tati has a boyfriend to lick her wounds.

At this week’s Qatar Telecom German Open, Golovin lost in the first round, to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The next tournament the Frenchwoman should be playing is the International Women's Open in Eastbourne. (via Women Who Serve, photo: Getty Images)