Serena Shocked by Schiavone at WTA Rome

Serena Williams suffered perhaps the worst loss of her career on Wednesday in Rome falling to the unheralded Italian Francesca Schiavone 7-6(1), 6-1.

"Today is one of the happiest days of my tennis life," the 26th-ranked Schiavone said much to the delight of all the Italian fans. "To do this against such a champion as Serena and in front of the Italian public means a lot to me.”

Serena was playing in her first match since spraining her left ankle last month in Amelia Island, and the loss marked the fifth straight event since her Australian Open title that she has failed to reach the finals. That’s not a good sign, and one Serena doesn’t want to acknowledge.

"I just guess I had a really bad day today," the third-seeded Williams said. "Just one of those days that just wasn't going to work. I made too many errors maybe, and I just didn't feel anything today. I mean, nothing came from my legs, or from my arms."

Also shown the exit door today was No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva, who fell to Gisela “Sgt.” Dulko 7-5, 6-4.

On the plus side, No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo had little trouble with Aussie Sam Stosur with a 6-2, 6-0, whitewash. The Frenchwoman will now face No. 13 seed Silvia Farina “Cat Chow” Elia who was a 6-3, 6-3 victor against Stephanie Cohen-Aloro. Also winning were No.8 seed “Chicken” Patty Schnyder, No.15 Ai Sugiyama, four-time Rome winner Conchita Martinez, 1997 champ Mary Pierce and qualifier Catalina Castano.

Rising star Ana Ivanovic also advanced with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over Anna Chakvetadze, and a quartet of Russians in No.6 Vera “Warren: Zvonareva, No.7 Nadia Petrova, No.9 Elena Bovina and unseeded Evgenia Linetskaya all made their way into the next round.

For those lucky to have a Thursday ticket some of the matches include Ivanovic vs. Schnyder; Farina Elia vs. Mauresmo; Sugiyama vs. Schiavone; and, Sharapova vs. Pierce