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)

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 »