Serena, Venus reach Rome quarters

Tennis Betting Lines

05/05/2010 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning world No. 1 Serena Williams and her former top-ranked big sister Venus were a pair of third-round victors Wednesday at the $2 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open tune-up.

The top-seeded Serena needed all three sets to get past German Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, while a fourth-seeded Venus cruised past 16th-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-4 at Foro Italico. Serena held off a game Petkovic in 1 hour, 43 minutes, with the help of six service breaks.

The 2002 Rome champion Serena returned to WTA Tour action on Tuesday after being sidelined with a knee injury for three months, or since capturing the Australian Open title in January.

The 12-time major champion Serena is the reigning Aussie Open and Wimbledon titlist.

Venus captured Rome 11 years ago and was the runner-up here in 1998.

Second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki went by way of the upset here on Day 4, as the popular Dane succumbed to Spanish clay-court specialist Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 19 minutes.

Another straight-set upset came when former No. 1 and former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic took out sixth-seeded Russian star Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

Seventh-seeded former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic avoided an upset by crushing 11th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-0 in 59 minutes, while yet another upset came when Czech Lucie Safarova overtook eighth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4).

Jankovic titled here two years ago.

In other third-round play, 14th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova held off Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 and Russian glamour girl Maria Kirilenko overcame Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Dulgheru upended 2009 Rome champion Dinara Safina here on Tuesday.

Thursday's quarterfinals will pit Serena against Kirilenko, Venus versus Jankovic, Petrova against Ivanovic and Safarova versus Martinez Sanchez. Four of the eight women still standing here are current or former world No. 1s.

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