Clijsters Loses, Venus and Hingis Into Quarters at Rome

Clijsters complained Wednesday of suffering from allergies, and Safina saw her opening.

"I saw that she wasn't playing well and I said 'This is my chance I have to go for it,'" Safina told reporters.

With a title in Rome Clijsters would have re-taken the No. 1 ranking from Amelie Mauresmo.

"I just had no confidence," Clijsters said. "I think today was just an off day."

Minor upsets Thursday were unseeded former No. 1 Martina Hingis thumping No. 8 Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 7-5, and former No. 1 and No. 9 seed Venus Williams outlasting No. 6 Patty Schnyder 6-1 in the third.

"I think it was quite tough, especially in the second set," Hingis said. "At 3-0, 4-1, it looked far away, but it was only one break. So, I mean, today I served well, and once I broke her back I was like 'Okay, come on now, you've got to hold, and then we'll see what happens.' I feel like I'm so close, that I can even beat those top players, maybe not every time or not every day, but sooner or later, hopefully."

No. 5 Elena Dementieva (d. (11) Groenefeld 6-1 in the third) was the highest seed advancing Thursday, joined in the quarters by (7) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (10) Myskina), (15) Flavia Pennetta (d. Medina Garrigues in three), Serb Jelena Jankovic (d. Srebotnik), and Italian qualifier Romina Oprandi (d. Zvonareva 0-and-1).

"This is unbelievable for me," said Oprandi, contesting her second career tour-level draw. "To play qualifying and be in the quarterfinals of Rome is something I never would have imagined at the start of the week."

Quarterfinal match-ups Friday in Rome are Dementieva vs. Safina in an all-Russian, Kuznetsova vs. (Q) Oprandi, Venus vs. Jankovic, and Hingis vs. Pennetta.