13 second round matches will be played on Wednesday in Rome with the winners joining Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Timea Bacsinszky in the third round.  In first round action, Lucie Safarova looked to be heading out against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.  However, she won the last five games and served out the match to love, prevailing in two hours and 49 minutes.  Jelena Jankovic won her first match since Charleston with a 7-5 7-5 victory over Camila Giorgi.  The first set was probably the worst set of tennis i’ve watched all year and the commentator was having a field day.  Giorgi is just infuriating to watch because she gives no kind of rhythm, constantly flipping from the good (rare today) to the bad.

1. Venus Williams v Elina Svitolina (Rome, R2)

Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina will meet for the first time on the WTA tour when the pair meet in the fourth match on Grandstand in Rome tomorrow.  Both players won their first round matches in straight sets; Venus beat the rather wild, Katerina Siniakova, 6-2 6-2, while Svitolina secured a decent win over Flavia Pennetta on Pietrangeli, 6-4 6-2.  Venus produced an excellent display to defeat Siniakova in Monday’s night session.  Venus was aggressive and consistent for the most part, not allowing the match to drag at all and getting off the court in super quick time.  For a full match recap of that match click HERE.  Svitolina has produced some good results on the clay so far this year and she won Marrakech a few weeks ago.  However, after Venus’s performance in the first round i’d fancy the American to be too strong for Svitolina and reach the third round of Rome for the first time since 2012.

Prediction: V.Williams d. Svitolina in 2 sets

2. Ana Ivanovic v Daria Gavrilova (Rome, R2)

Ana Ivanovic faces a tough first match in Rome against the rapidly-improving, Daria Gavrilova.  After winning two qualifying matches, Gavrilova won her third match of the week in the first round as she edged Belinda Bencic, 6-7(2) 7-5 6-2 in two hours and 56 minutes.  It was another tough loss for Belinda who has lost her last four matches on tour (*sad face*).  Bencic was a set and a break up in this match.  Gavrilova should have won the first set as she went up a break on three occasions and failed to serve out the set twice.  Bencic should have won the second set as she was up a break and close to getting to 5-2 before Gavrilova mounted an impressive comeback.  Gavrilova is one of this year’s biggest risers, having ended 2014 at world number 233 and now comfortably inside the world’s top 100 at 78.  I like her feisty attitude and she seems to be winning a lot of fans.  This won’t be easy for Ivanovic, but I think the Serb shoud have just enough to get through this one.

Prediction: Ivanovic d. Gavrilova in 3 sets

WTA Rome 2nd round predictions

Petra Kvitova d. Karin Knapp in 2 sets

Simona Halep d. Alison Riske in 2 sets

Sara Errani d. Christina McHale in 2 sets

Jelena Jankovic d. Magdalena Rybarikova in 2 sets

Ekaterina Makarova d. Kristina Mladenovic in 3 tight sets

Zarina Diyas d. Eugenie Bouchard in 2 tight sets

Carla Suarez Navarro d. Heather Watson in 2 sets

Madison Keys d. Bojana Jovanovski in 2 sets

Angelique Kerber d. Irina-Camelia Begu in 2 tight sets

Lucie Safarova d. Alexandra Dulgheru in 3 sets

Photos in this post by Jimmie48 Tennis Photography