It was tense, it was topsy-turvey, and to make things even more complicated, the Rome final was suspended due to rain before the third-set tiebreak (what a moment to stop the match!), but when the play resumed it was defending champion Maria Sharapova who had the edge over Li Na and won her second claycourt title this season.

With the 2011 French Open champion Li leading a set and 4-0, the momentum changed as Sharapova took eight straight games. In the third set, Sharapova looked to be racing to victory while leading 4-1 (an advantage of two breaks), but then her unforced errors crept in and Li was ready to take the opportunity. The Chinese quickly worked her way back and the result was leveled to 4-4, just like in both previous sets. Li then held her serve for 5-4 and put Sharapova in the position to serve to stay in the match. As if the match was not uncertain enough, at 6-4 4-6 5-5 30-30 it was suspended due to rain, on Sharapova's suggestion to chair umpire Kader Nouni. Luckily, only moments later the play resumed. At 6-5 for Li, Sharapova handed her a match point by making a huge mistake on the net, missing a smash, but she managed to pull off the tense service game and take the decision on the tournament winner to the tiebreak. However, it was not that simple. Heavy rain drenched the courts and the tiebreak had to be postponed.

After two hours, Sharapova and Li returned to the court and Sharapova ended the match after two hours and 52 minutes of play winning the tiebreak 7-5. Final score: 4-6 6-4 7-6(5). (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Second seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova advanced to the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Angelique Kerber. Her opponent in the title match will be seed number eight Li. Three of Sharapova's last five titles came on clay, while the only Grand Slam she hasn't won yet is the claycourt Roland Garros, the trophy Li lifted last year.

In both sets Sharapova broke Kerber's serve right away, and even though the twelfth-seeded German did manage to break back and keep herself in the match, Sharapova was in control throughout. The Russian's lead in winners was 27-9, while she committed one fewer unforced than her opponent. Read more »

Defending champion Maria Sharapova is through to the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, beating wildcard Venus Williams 6-4 6-3 in the final eight. After a closely-fought first set, the Russian second seed broke Venus' serve for a 5-4 lead, and in the following game saved two break points before taking the set. The second set Sharapova started by establishing a 2-0 lead, and even though Venus leveled at 2-all, the American didn't give much more resistance. Besides confidently holding one more service game, the rest of the set was Sharapova's and Venus even ended the match with a double fault. Sharapova's semifinal opponent will be Petra Kvitova or Angelique Kerber.

Earlier in the quarterfinals, Serena Williams was on court for just 28 minutes, as Flavia Pennetta retired with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-0. Williams' claycourt winning streak has mounted to 17 matches, and the American, who has this spring won on the green clay of Charleston and the blue clay of Madrid, confidently stated: "I've played on ice and on water. I can play on any surface."

Serena's opponent in the semifinals will be French Open champion Li Na of China, who stormed to a 6-1 4-0 lead against Dominika Cibulkova, before the Slovak recovered to take the second set to a tiebreak. Still, Li won 6-1 7-6 (4) and is now looking for her second victory over Serena in their seventh meeting. (photo courtesy of Francesca Moscatelli)

Ana Ivanovic was ahead in both sets of her third-round encounter with Maria Sharapova at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, but she displayed her brilliant ability to let a match slip away and you know how well Sharapova can smell prey.

Sharapova made a terrible start to the match, making a total of four double faults in her first two service games to assist Ivanovic in taking a 3-0 lead which comprised of two breaks. Ivanovic had a game point in the following game, but Sharapova started winning. Still, Ivanovic earned a set point at 5-3 and five set points at 5-4, aaaand Sharapova saved them all to level at 5-5! In the tiebreak it was again Ivanovic who first established a lead, but again Sharapova clawed back from 4-4 in the tiebreak to win the set with a shot right on the line.

Even though Ivanovic started the second set by dropping serve, she again built a lead, 3-1. However, the history repeated, the lead was not enough, as Sharapova took charge and won all the remaining games. Final score: 7-6(4) 6-3.

In the quarterfinals, the second-seeded Sharapova will face wildcard Venus Williams, who overcame Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-3. Other quarterfinal pairs are: Dominika Cibulkova vs. Li Na, Serena Williams vs. Flavia Pennetta, and Angelique Kerber vs. Petra Kvitova. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Jelena Jankovic and Anna Chakvetadze both suffered first-round exits at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, but luckily the fact that they are in one of the most beautiful cities in the world has helped them ease their woes to an extent. As Jankovic shared on Twitter, she went sightseeing and shopping with Chakvetadze. Also, the fun-loving Jankovic showed a photo of them looking "cool trying out some sunglasses".

The former world No.1 Jankovic, who has this week dropped to the edge of Top 20, followed up her Stuttgart and Madrid first-round exits with the same outcome in Rome, crashing out to Sorana Cirstea in a 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) nail-biter. Former world No.5 Chakvetadze, currently ranked 337th, lost to Sloane Stephens 6-2 2-6 6-4.

Not looking troubled by health problems, world No.1 Victoria Azarenka dominated Shahar Peer in the late night match at the Italian Open. But soon after advancing to the third round with a 6-1 6-2 victory earned in just 55 minutes, Azarenka surprised with a withdrawal from the tournament, stating a right shoulder injury. Oh, it seems that another clash of Azarenka and Radwanska was really not meant to be.

Azarenka’s pullout gives the 14th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova an easy way into her first Rome quarterfinals. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Agnieszka Radwanska has still not defeated Victoria Azarenka this year, but has finally lost to a player other than the Belarusian! The Pole entered the second-round match of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with a 32-6 win-loss record in 2012 and all the six losses came at the hands of top-ranked Azarenka, who was again lurking in her half of the draw. However, Radwanska escaped the unpleasant taste of losing to her nemesis again, by exiting the tournament in an opening match, falling to Petra Cetkovska 6-4 4-6 6-1.

After the match, Cetkovska praised Radwanska's intelligent game, saying that it was her ability to perform better in important moments that decided the match. Radwanska, Dubai and Miami champion this season, was half-hearted, exhausted and injured:

Losing at the beginning of the tournament is disappointing. I'm tired from all the matches I've been playing and I have some problems with my back. I'm going to take a few days off then play Brussels. I still have some matches before Paris.

Radwanska is now actually 0-4 in head-to-head against the 28th-ranked Cetkovska, but this is the first time that the 27-year-old Czech beat her as a Top 10 player, even more so, Radwanska is now world No.3. Three of those four defeats to Cetkovska happened in the last 12 months. (via WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

In the first set of the second-round meeting between Nadia Petrova and Serena Williams at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Petrova seemed to be striding towards ending Williams' winning streak on clay, but already in the beginning of the second set the momentum changed in the dramatic fourth game and the American marched on to grab her 15th straight win.

In the beginning of the match Petrova was confident on her shots, especially on serve, never facing a break opint, and an early break of Williams earned her the first set. Until 1-1 in the second set, Williams was inferior, as Petrova lost just six points in her six service games. And in the following game things looked to be going the Russian's way, as she had an opportunity to break Serena to love! But Petrova's nerves and errors and Serena's determination clashed and the American held her serve after saving five break points. Since then the set was all hers, even though she dropped serve in the seventh game. In the third set both players held their serves until the eighth game when Serena struck again and then served out for the match. Final score: 4-6 6-2 6-3.

The ninth-seeded Williams will next play Anabel Medina Garrigues, who had an easy passage into the third round when Caroline Wozniacki retired trailing 4-6 0-4, stating upper respiratory illness. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)