Italians Enjoy Perfect Start in Rome;Sharapova Begins No. 1 Bid Today

With the top seeds all earning first round byes, there wasn’t much to chew on Monday in Rome, unless you were a fan of the Italian players.

Three Italians took the court, and three Italians won. How about that! Silvia Farina Elia, Francesca Schiavone and Maria Elena Camerin all posted wins. Camerin earned the win of the day upsetting No. 10 seed Nathalie Dechy “Or Didn’t She?” 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

No.9 seed Elena Bovina also advanced by crushing “My” Mashona Washington 6-2, 6-2 and the 13th-seeded Farina Elia dispatched Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-1.

Other winners included Jelena Jankovic, Anna Chakvetadze, Paola Suarez, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Anabel “Funky Cold” Medina Garrigues and Samantha Stosur. Medina Garrigues advances to take on top seed Maria Sharapova, while Stosur will next seed defending champion and No.2 seed Amelie Mauresmo. For her win Monday, Schiavone now meets Serena Williams.

Tuesday in Rome, Maria Sharpova will be on court against Medina Garrigues along with Tatiana Golovin (v. Ivanovic) and Svetlana “The Kewz” Kuznetsova (v. Suarez).