World number one Dinara Safina and fifth seed Ana Ivanovic moved into the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The top-seeded Safina had to decide the first set against Virginie Razzano in a tiebreak, but took the second set straightforwardly to win 7-6(1) 6-1.

Ana Ivanovic also progressed in straight sets, taking out home favorite Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-4. The Serb will next face tenth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

Two seeds were upset today in Rome: No.11 Marion Bartoli fell to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 7-5, while No.13 Alize Cornet lost to Kateryna Bondarenko 6-4 6-1.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, champion last weekend in Stuttgart, is through, as well as Jelena Jankovic, Flavia Pennetta, Caroline Wozniacki, Kaia Kanepi, Nadia Petrova, and Zheng Jie. And please note: Anna Chakvetadze has also advanced. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Jelena Jankovic, who won the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title in 2007 and 2008, defeated Gisela Dulko 6-3 7-6(6) in the second round.

Jankovic could have advanced much more quickly, but she let the Argentinean world No.39 come back in the second set. Jankovic even put herself in a position of saving four set points in the tenth game before leveling at 5-5. Not only did the defending champion waste the early lead, but at 5-5 rain delay set in and the match was prolonged even more. When play resumed, Jankovic and Dulko held their serves, and the third seed finished the match in the tiebreak. Jankovic was on a good way to waste her chances again, though, as she converted only her fifth match point.

The fourth-ranked Serb will next take on Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko, who knocked out last year’s runner-up Alize Cornet 6-4 6-1. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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)

Maria Sharapova is about to skip two more tournaments, failing to recover from the infamous shoulder injury.

The WTA said in a statement that the Russian has pulled out from next month’s clay-court tournaments Internazionali BNL d’Italia and Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open.

Sharapova hasn’t played a singles match since last August, while she made a brief return to competitive tennis at Indian Wells last month, playing doubles.

I have to say I kind of expected it. All her statements about the comeback have been somewhat vague. (source: Reuters, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The Women's Tennis Association has agreed to bring back byes to certain tournaments in 2009 in order to give players more time to rest between certain high-intensity events.

Rome is a 56-draw tournament followed by Madrid which is a 64-draw tournament. Similarly in the fall, Tokyo is a 56-draw tournament followed by Beijing. Several players were concerned there was too many matches in too few days.

The WTA responded by reintroducing byes for semifinalists in Rome and Tokyo, so that they can play one match less and have more time to rest. (source: Reuters)

Newly-crowned French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, who has now officially become world number one, revealed why she lost so early at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the Tier I event which took place in Rome last month.

As Ivanovic was getting ready to go on court for her second round match against Tsvetana Pironkova, she suddenly heard that Justine Henin had quit the sport. As you know, the news was totally unexpected, and since Henin would have been the overwhelming favorite to win the Roland Garros title for the fifth time in six years, the news gave Ivanovic a glimmer of hope. That hope, however, distracted Ivanovic so much that she lost the match against Pironkova.

"I started thinking, hey maybe I can become number one but it was too much for me," said the 20-year-old Ivanovic. (photo via Yahoo)

World No.4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia successfully defended a title for the first time in her career with a 6-2 6-2 victory over French qualifier Alize Cornet, ranked 34th in the world.

Fourth-seeded Jankovic was dominant throughout the final. She established a 5-1 lead in the first set, and although Cornet pulled a break back, Jankovic immediately broke back to take the opening set. The second set was the same story. The 18-year-old Frenchwoman even broke into tears at 4-1 down while Jankovic took a pause to have treatment on her right shoulder. Cornet, who scored victories over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze on her way to the final, held her next service game and then earned three break points on Jankovic's serve but the champion saved them all and went on to break again to claim the Internazionali BNL d'Italia title.

Winning in Rome, the 23-year-old Jankovic took home her sixth career WTA title and her first since winning in Birmingham at the DFS Classic last year in June. Also, she earned $196,900.

In the next rankings, Jankovic will move to No.3, and Cornet, who played only her second WTA final, is expected to make her Top 30 debut, improving to around No.22. (photo via Yahoo)

Jelena Jankovic is now just one step away from defending her Internazionali BNL d’Italia title. The Serb was supposed to play Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, but the Russian withdrew before the match with a calf injury.

Sharapova believes that the injury is not serious and is expecting it to heal in a few days. Being ready for the French Open is her priority.

"The most important thing is recovery and to be ready for the French (Open), which is obviously a goal for every player," Sharapova, who will on Monday move to No.1 in the rankings, told a news conference.

"I'm going to Paris in a couple of hours. I'm going to get some treatment over there and try to be ready as soon as possible. I hope in two days I'll be able to be on court and be normal." Read more »

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)