Jankovic in Ro16, Kuznetsova retires

ROME - Serbia's best-ranked female tennis player Jelena Jankovic is through to round of 16 at the WTA Rome Masters as her opponent Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia retired from their second-round match late on Wednesday.

Jankovic won the first set by 6-2, and led by 4-0 in the second when the Russian retired citing injury, 57 minutes into the match.

Bidding for a quarter-final spot, the Serbian will next face Italy's Flavia Pennetta, who defeated Belinda Bencic of Switzerland by 2-1 (6-2, 2-6, 6-3).

Ana Ivanovic also advanced to the third round on Wednesday beating Alize Cornet of France in straight sets 7-6 (7-1), 7-5, and set up a clash against Russia's Maria Sharapova.

The Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome offers a total prize fund of EUR 2.12 million.

AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

Continue reading on: