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)

Maria Sharapova has had a very good stretch on clay and extended it today with a 7-5 7-5 victory over Christina McHale in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The Russian has won 17 of her last 19 matches on clay, and those wins include the 2011 Rome and 2012 Stuttgart titles.

Her opening match in Rome this year was a tricky affair, as the second-seeded Sharapova trailed in both sets, especially in the first set when she had to recover from a 4-1 deficit, overcoming numerous unforced errors. The victory came after two hours and 12 minutes. Read more »

This Monday world No.11 Angelique Kerber overtook Andrea Petkovic as the highest-ranked German player and started off the Rome tournament with a victory over Anastasia Rodionova, a hard-fought one, though. Seed No.12 Kerber worked her way back from a set down and early breaks in both the second and third set to finally defeat qualifier Rodionova 4-6 7-5 6-2.

Another high-profile German was in action today – Julia Goerges overcame qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak in three sets 6-1 6-7(1) 6-3, but after missing a match point in the second set.

The dramatic windy day on the clay of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia also featured a clash of two Grand Slam champions, even better, the French Open champions – Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Ivanovic produced a fine performance to defeat Kuznetsova 6-4 6-3, performing 100% on the conversion of the five break points she had.

There was another French Open champion in action on the first day of Rome – No.10 seed Francesca Schiavone – but the Italian No.1 ended up as the only seeded casualty of the day, falling to Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-4. (via WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Maria Sharapova has positioned herself among the favorites for the 2011 French Open, the only Grand Slam the 24-year-old Russian still hasn’t won, by following up her win over world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the Rome semifinals with a 6-2 6-4 defeat of last year’s French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur.

When Sharapova is in a good tennis period, it’s a joy to watch her, her determination and focus combined with her powerful game produce a lot of winners that can’t leave you emotionless. I’m really looking forward to her shaking up the draw at the French Open. Not to mention that her fiancé’s engagement from the stands is really cute, it makes Sharapova’s wins even more moving. Read more »

Maria Sharapova is far from the best mover on clay, but this time her power was too much for Caroline Wozniacki’s defensive game, and the Russian earned her first victory over a No.1 player since her comeback from a serious shoulder injury in May 2009 and also the 24-year-old reached the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia tournament in Rome for the first time. Maybe her fiancé's support made all the difference.

Sharapova won the last five games of the semifinal and the last game she won to love, while in the entire match she scored 36 winners to Wozniacki’s 15. Final result: 7-5 6-3. Not so promising prospects for Wozniacki’s French Open campaign – this year on red clay she was upset by Julia Goerges two times, in Stuttgart and Madrid, and now by Sharapova. Read more »