Serbs Ivanovic, Jankovic Lead 7 of Top 10 at WTA Rome
Posted on May 12, 2008
ROME, Italy -- Seven of the world's Top 10 players head to the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy this week for the 2008 edition of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Among the favorites is Serbia's Jelena Jankovic, the champion here a year ago.
Jankovic has had a special connection with this tournament. She never made it past the second round in her first three appearances, but in 2006 she snapped out of a 10-match losing streak on these courts, winning three matches before falling to Venus Williams in three sets. Then in 2007 she went all the way to the title without dropping a single set, arguably one of the greatest weeks of her career. This year she holds the No.4 seed and, after a potentially tricky path that could include two-time 2008 clay court titlist Flavia Pennetta, Jankovic could face No.7 seed Williams in a rematch of the aforementioned 2006 quarterfinal.
Fellow Top 5 stars Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova hold the No.1, No.2 and No.3 seeds, respectively. Of the three, Kuznetsova has the better resume in Rome, making the final a year ago before falling to Jankovic; Sharapova has gone as far as the semifinals (2005) while Ivanovic fell in the third round in her only previous appearance (also 2005). Rounding out the Top 10 contingent are Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze, seeded No.5 and No.6.
Other players to watch include Patty Schnyder, who has reached the semifinals or better here three times and is the No.9 seed this year; Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina, two of the most in-form players around and the No.10 and No.14 seeds; and Pennetta, who has already claimed clay court trophies this year at Vina del Mar and Acapulco.
Another notable entry in the draw is Mara Santangelo. The Italian, a wildcard this week, hasn't competed since last September's Fed Cup final due to a left foot injury. She was seemingly on her way up, cracking the Top 30 last January and notching her first two Top 10 wins during the year, before the injury. In a similar story, another former Top 30 player -- and former doubles No.1 -- has her own Tour comeback here, having missed most of the last several months due to illness. Samantha Stosur made a splash here last year, giving Mauresmo her earliest ever exit at this event in the second round.
This is the 64th time Rome has been a Tour stop, the first 63 stagings coming from 1930 to 1935, 1950 to 1985 and from 1987 to this year. Active players to have won this title previously are Venus Williams (1999), Jelena Dokic (2001), Serena Williams (2002), Amelie Mauresmo (2004, 2005) and Jankovic (2007). The record for number of titles in the Open Era goes to Chris Evert, with five, although Gabriela Sabatini and Conchita Martinez weren't far behind with four each.
-- Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
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