Defending champion Dinara Safina went out in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome, losing 6-4 6-7 6-1 to Alexandra Dulgheru.
Third seed out but Williams sisters through to next round
Defending champion Dinara Safina went out in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome, losing 6-4 6-7 6-1 to Alexandra Dulgheru.
The third-seeded Russian, playing her second tournament since returning from a long-term back injury, got off to a poor start against her Romanian opponent and never looked settled.
Safina, playing her first match after receiving a bye through the first round, found herself 4-0 down on a clay surface made heavy by rain before pulling back to level.
Initiative
However, she quickly handed the initiative back to Dulgheru, who clinched the first, and the Romanian had her chances to wrap up a straight sets win before Safina edged the second set tie-break 7-5.
But the Russian was unable to keep up the pace in the decider and the world number 43 booked her place in the third round with some ease.
"I was too out of touch with the racket. I had only practised a little bit so this was disappointing," said Safina.
"The only good thing out of this match is that my back was fine."
Second seed Caroline Wozniacki had few such problems, beating Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 6-1 6-0 in less than an hour, while Venus Williams also cruised into the next round with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Patty Schnyder.
The world number four continued her dominance of the Swiss, making it 10 wins in as many matches, as the American broke in the seventh game of each set.
Schnyder had three break points as Williams served for the match, but was unable to take any of them as the Wimbledon champion booked a date with Shahar Peer in the third round.
"I think it was a pretty good performance, I felt good on court," said Williams, the 1999 champion.
"She likes clay, it suits her type of game but I was executing pretty well."
Peer, seeded 16, overcame the loss of the first set Polona Hercog of Slovenia before pulling through 2-6 7-5 6-3, while two-time champion Jelena Jankovic also required three sets to see off American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3 3-6 6-1.
Sticky start
Serena Williams, playing for the first time since winning the Australian Open in February, overcame a sticky start to defeat Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky 7-6 6-1.
Williams slipped 4-1 down before breaking her opponent to love in the sixth game, and broke again to level at 5-5 before cruising thorugh the tie-break 7-2.
By then, the American had found her rhythm and cruised to victory as the 20-year-old started to struggle, although she bravely held serve in the fifth game after saving three break points.
Meanwhile, Russian sixth seed Elena Dementieva saw off Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-4 7-5, while eighth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland had little trouble disposing of Italian Roberta Vinci 6-1 6-0.
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic upset Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4 6-4. The ninth seed appeared to be struggling with an injury to her leg, limping at times during the match.
