Kuznetsova advances at the Italian Masters

ROME, May 17 (UPI) -- No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was among Thursday's third-round winners at the Italian Masters Tennis Tournament in Rome.

The Russian was a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 winner against Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine.

Former Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, the tournament's eighth seed, trounced 11th-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-3, and 14th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland ousted Aussie Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-4.

Also winning were third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, No. 6 Dinara Safina, No. 9 Daniela Hantuchova, 10th-seeded Elena Dementiva -- who won her match when No. 5 seed Nadia Petrova retired late in the first set with a lower back injury -- and unseeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.