Seventh seed Jelena Jankovic became the seventh player to beat both the Williams sisters in one tournament, having thrashed Venus 6-1 6-0 in yesterday’s quarterfinal and now beating world No.1 Serena to advance to the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

The world No.7 Jankovic, who is aiming for her third Rome title after winning here in 2007 and 2008, won the semifinal against top-seeded Serena Williams 4-6 6-3 7-6(5) after 2 hours 47 minutes and a third-set tiebreak.

In the first set Serena had one crucial break to win 6-4. Jankovic then broke Serena to love two times to take the second set 6-3. Then Jankovic seemed to be losing the decider, but came back from a set down to win tense tiebreak with an equally tense score 7-5.

Everyone is hoping for a repeat of old Serbian glory, and even though we can already taste it, we could have an opportunity for a real celebration if Rome would see an all-Serbian final. But for that, Ana Ivanovic has to overcome Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez which will not be an easy task. (photo: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

I was reluctant to celebrate Ana Ivanovic’s second-round win over ninth seed Victoria Azarenka too much, simply in order not to jinx Ana or put pressure on her (who knows, she might be reading this blog ), but now I can say it: "Woohoo Ana is back!".

The Serb defeated sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-1 7-6(5) and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. I was watching just livescores (don't ask me why), but I am pretty sure Ivanovic didn’t have much trouble in the first set. Actually, in that first set Dementieva didn’t hold serve once and as the result shows won only one game.

The second set was longer and unpredictable. The first four games were breaks of serve, but then they both held serve until 6-6 and tiebreak which Ivanovic won 7-5.

This is Ivanovic’s first victory over Dementieva in their five meetings. Her next opponent on clay in Rome will be seed No.14 Nadia Petrova. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

World number one Serena Williams played three sets to win her second match since coming out of long injury absence, but as always the American was able to step up when needed and defeated unseeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-2 3-6 6-0 in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

The top-seeded Williams won the first set with a five-game streak, but quickly found herself trailing the 49th-ranked Petkovic 4-1 in the second set, before losing it 6-3. In the decider Williams regained her concentration and wrapped up the set to love.

Serena’s older sister Venus Williams, seeded fourth, played next and recorded a 6-3 6-4 victory over Shahar Peer of Israel in the third round, so the Williamses are now on course to meet in the semifinals.

Serena’s opponent in the quarters will be Maria Kirilenko, who followed up her upset of fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova with a 4-6 6-1 6-1 win over Dominika Cibulkova. Venus’ next opponent will be seventh seed Jelena Jankovic, who showed good form in the 6-2 6-0 defeat of No.11 seed Yanina Wickmayer in the third round. (photo: Emmett Anderson)

It's not just a dream, Ana Ivanovic followed up her 6-1 6-3 victory over Elena Vesnina in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with another straight sets victory, 6-4 6-4 against ninth seed Victoria Azarenka.

This is the most noteworthy Ivanovic’s win this season, and actually her best result in who knows how many months. In fact, Ivanovic’s website states that it is her first victory over a Top 10 player in some 20 months. In addition, with the triumph over Azarenka in Rome the 22-year-old recorded her first two successive straight sets wins since June 2009.

Alright, enough with the comparison with things Ana would like to forget. Will the win over Viktoria prove to be a positive turning point for the continuation of Ana’s career? I certainly hope so, but the pressure is the last thing Ana needs, especially having in mind that another Top 10 player, sixth seed Elena Dementieva, is awaiting in the third round. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

World No.1 Serena Williams received a wildcard for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and played and won her first match since claiming her fifth Australian Open title back in January. Serena had a first-round bye in Rome and in the second round the American defeated Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 7-6(2) 6-1, despite the long period without competitive tennis due to the knee injury.

The 20-year-old Bacsinszky was in command during the opening set, first with a 4-1 lead and then with a 5-3 lead. Bacsinszky even had three set points in the tenth game. However, Williams leveled at 5-5, and then forced a tiebreak which she won 7-2. That was pretty much the end of Bacsinszky.

Williams was victorious at the Italian Open in 2002 and followed it with her only Roland Garros title two weeks later.

Earlier in the day, Serena’s sister Venus took out another Swiss player from the tournament, world No.45 Patty Schynder. (photo: sr_cranks)