Top-seeded Ivanovic ousted at Italian Open

ROME, May 14 (UPI) -- No. 1-seeded Ana Ivanovic lost to a tournament qualifier Wednesday during second-round play at the $1.34 million Italian Open in Rome.

Ivanovic, ranked No. 3 in the world and poised to move up in the wake of the retirement of No. 1-rated Justine Henin, was defeated 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 by Tsvetana Pironkova, ranked 64th and a qualifier to the Rome tournament.

The Williams sisters cruised to wins Wednesday, with fifth-seeded Serena Williams routing Alona Bondarenko, 6-2, 6-0, and seventh-seeded Venus Williams taking out Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-1.

No. 3-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova matched Serena with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Olga Govortsova while fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic had a score similar to Venus's in a 6-1, 6-4 win over Flavia Pennetta.

Also in the top 10, No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze beat Kateryna Bondarenko, 3-6 7-6 (7-1), 6-0; No. 8 Marion Bartoli stopped Virginie Razzano, 6-4, 7-5; ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder romped over Ruano Pascual, 6-1, 6-0; and 10th-seeded Vera Zvonareva was a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 winner over Iveta Benesova.

In other second-round matches, Italian favorite Sara Errani erased 11th-seeded Agnes Szavay, 6-0, 6-3, No. 12 Pole Agnieszka Radwanska overcame Roberta Vinci, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, and Alize Cornet ousted 17th-seeded Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-2.