Francesca Schiavone was an early casualty in the Rome Masters today after losing her opening round match to Ekaterina Makarova. The out-of-form Schiavone, the 10th seed here and 2010 French Open champion, was beaten 6-3 6-4 by her Russian opponent as she slumped to a 10th defeat in her last 12 matches.
Number 12 Angelique Kerber of Germany was also made to battle hard before she progressed through to the second round with a 4-6 7-5 6-2 win Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova. “It was very tough conditions because some of the court had shadows, some was sunny, and it was windy,” Kerber said on http://www.wtatennis.com. “And Anastasia played very well – I was just thinking to fight and play point by point, and I’m very happy I won.”
Serbian Ana Ivanovic, the 13th seed, had no such concerns though in her 6-4 6-3 win over Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in a battle between two other former Roland Garros winners. Other players making it through their opening matches today were Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Julia Goerges, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Christina McHale, Chanelle Scheepers, Iveta Benesova, Shahar Peer, Vania King and Sofia Arvidsson.