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 Today, the Russian has withdrawn from the tournament following the one in Berlin.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World No.21 Tatiana Golovin has withdrawn from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Internationaux de Strasbourg, and from her home Grand Slam, Roland Garros.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 This year, she has withdrawn, presumably, because of a failure to recover completely from surgery — she had to remove a cyst from her hip.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)

World No.1 Justine Henin has pulled out of the next week's Internazionali BNL d'Italia due to fatigue, and the WTA Tour said she will be fined $20,000 for the late withdrawal.

Before the ongoing Qatar Telecom German Open, Henin took a month off with a knee injury. She had hoped to restore her confidence in Berlin in time for the French Open, which she has won four times. But that didn't happen.

Henin has struggled for form all year. On Thursday, the Belgian lost to Dinara Safina in the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open. Last month, Henin was beaten by Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open with the worst score for a No. 1 player in nine years, 6-2 6-0. Also, Maria Sharapova defeated her in straight sets at the Australian Open. (via CBS Sports, photo: Getty Images)

Jelena Jankovic defeated world number three and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5 6-1 to win the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and join Justin Henin as the only WTA players who have won three tournaments this year. In January, Jankovic took the Tier IV title in Auckland, then the Tier I in Charleston last month, and today another Tier I in Rome.

Today's victory takes the 22-year-old Serb to number 4 in the world. In addition, this trophy, being her second on clay this year, establishes her as one of the favorites for Roland Garros.

As for Kuznetsova, this is the fourth final she lost in 2007. The Russian was also runner-up in Doha, Indian Wells, and Berlin. (source: ESPN)

The third-seeded JJ reached the final of Italian Open by beating Tamira Paszek, Alona Bondarenko, Elena Dementieva, and Patty Schnyder.

After beating Kuznetsova, Jelena was very excited. She said that the victory in Rome means a lot to her; last year, from late January to early May, she hasn't won a single match and she was thinking about quitting tennis!

Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic convincingly beat Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-3 to advance to her first Rome final.

JJ showed a high level of tennis — she moved brilliantly, and with great precision hit the lines and the corners. The Swiss, on the other hand, failed to hold her serve once and had more than 30 unforced errors. Ok, she had some fantastic drop shots and serves, but that wasn't enough to level up her forehand and backhand errors.

"I was expecting a more difficult match," Jelena said afterwards.

To enter the semis the Swiss had a thrilling three set match against Serena Williams, so the Serbian paid tribute to Schnyder saying: "She played unbelievably yesterday and it's really hard to play two days in a row like she did."

JJ's shots were extremely precise, her concentration was on a great level and it's no wonder that she's ranked 5th in the world. On Sunday, the 22-year old will have a chance to fight for her second Tier I title — in mid-April she won the $1,340,000 Family Circle Cup. Her opponent in the final will be either second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova or ninth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova.

If Jelena takes the trophy, she will move up to number four in the world. (source: Internazionali BNL d'Italia official site, BBC Sport)

Samantha Stosur, ranked 29th in the world, caused the first major upset at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, defeating top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in a nail-biting match that lasted almost three hours.

They played shot for shot, the result 75 67(4) 76(7) illustrates best how tight the match was. Both of them were close to victory several times. The Australian saved two match points. The French, later on, managed to save one match point, but lost the second one.

On paper, Mauremo was a heavy favorite — she's a former world No. 1 who grew up on clay. On the other hand, Stosur admits that clay isn't her preferred surface.

This is Samantha's first win over Amelie in their six meetings. It seems that Mauresmo still needs to get into rhythm after her two-month break caused by an appendix surgery. "I have nothing much to say but that I'm just disappointed, and obviously I guess the lack of matches showed a little bit at that moment," she said.

Both of them played well, but the Australian seemed to be emotionally stronger this time. I have to say that Stosur fascinated me with her mental stamina throughout the match. (sources: TennisX, 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)