Safina progresses in Rome

World number one Dinara Safina moved into the third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome with a straight-sets victory over Virginie Razzano.

The top seed did not have it all her own way in the first set though with the Frenchwoman taking her to a tie-break which the Russian won 7-1.

However, it was straightforward in the second set which Safina won 6-1 to tie up the game in one hour and 50 minutes.

Safina dominated on her serve and converted 50% of her opportunities to break while saving four of the six against her.

Third seed Jelena Jankovic overcame a rain break to defeat Gisela Dulko 6-4 7-6 to set up a third-round tie with Kateryna Bondarenko.

The Serbian had the chance to go 5-2 up in the second set but allowed her Argentinian opponent to claw her way back and the two-time champion had set-point against her at 4-5.

However, she levelled before the rain forced the pair off and on their return Jankovic, the former world number one, prevailed in the tie-break.

Ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki overcame a troublesome serve to claim a 6-1 7-5 victory over American Bethanie Mattek-Sands to set up a clash with number six seed Victoria Azarenka.

China's Jie Zheng, seeded 15, had a 6-2 6-7 6-2 win over Elena Vesnina in a match lasting just over two and a half hours.

Thirteenth seed Alize Cornet is out of the Eternal City tournament, though, after she lost in straight sets to Bondarenko, the Ukrainian dominating on serve and breaks to win 6-4 6-1.

Anna Chakvetadze came from a set down to beat Aleksandra Wozniack 5-7 7-6 6-3.

Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic's superior serve and greater success at both converting and saving break points guided her to a 6-3 6-4 victory over Italian Francesca Schiavone.

Seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova had a straightforward victory over Daniela Hantuchova, the world number eight going through 6-3 6-3.

Eighth seed Nadia Petrova was made to work harder but eventually prevailed against Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 3-6 6-3.

Eleventh seed Marion Bartoli struggled with her serve as she was sent crashing out by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, the Spaniard winning 6-1 7-5.

Twelfth seed Flavia Pennetta won through although she was pushed by Yaroslava Shvedova, the Italian prevailing 6-3 6-7 6-1 while 16th seed Kaia Kanepi defeated Sybille Bammer 7-5 6-3.