Rome: Day 2 preview

Another busy day of tennis in Rome as we proceed into day 2. Here are the matches scheduled to happen.

1st round matches:

(9) Serena Williams vs. Galina Voskoboeva
(WC) Venus Williams vs. Simona Halep
Timea Bacsinszky vs. Sara Errani
Flavia Pennetta vs. Maria Kirilenko
(15) Jelena Jankovic vs. Sorana Cirstea
(11) Sabine Lisicki vs Marina Erakovic
Roberta Vinci vs. (WC) Karin Knapp
(WC) Alberta Brianti vs. Silvia Soler-Espinosa
Nadia Petrova vs. Andrea Hlavackova
(Q) Anna Chakvetadze vs. (Q) Sloane Stephens
Petra Cetkovska vs. (Q) Olga Govortsova

2nd round matches:

(2) Maria Sharapova vs. Christina McHale
(4) Petra Kvitova vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Match Focus:

(15) Jelena Jankovic vs Sorana Cirstea

2 time former Rome champion has drawn a tough opener. Sorana Cirstea has famously defeated Jankovic back in 2009 to reach her first slam QF. Jankovic's recent form has been really questionable. Aside from her heroic performance in Fed Cup, she has really been struggling to string wins together. Now ranked 20, you have to wonder if she still has the hunger to get back to the top.

Her opponent on the other hand had an impressive start to her career. However, Sorana went into a huge slump which saw her drop out of the top 100. Now back to her winning ways, she is now back in the top 50 and looking to rise further. Sorana is a wildly fluctuating player. She can play top tennis one day (evidenced by her top 10 wins over Stosur and Bartoli this year) but play absolute crap the next (she lost to Chakvetadze 6-1 6-0 in Stuttgart). That said, I expect her to raise her level when meeting the top players, whether she considers Jankovic a top player remains to be seen.

Pick: Cirstea in 3 sets.

Flavia Pennetta vs. Maria Kirilenko

Home crowd favourite Flavia Pennetta goes against WTA glamour girl, Maria Kirilenko. I'm sure the seats for this match will be fully filled. Flavia Pennetta had a decent start to the year. She played an exhibition tournament right here in my country Singapore, and won it! She looks set to continue her fine form until an injury derailed her in the final of Hobart. Since then, her results are inconsistent. After almost 1 month of rest, she returns to Rome. One has to wonder if her injury has fully healed or is she rushing back too soon.

Kirilenko is at her career high ranking of 16 now but she's not totally spectacular this year. She just cut out her freak losses that she's prone to have. However, recent form suggests that her form is dipping (losing to Karin Knapp despite holding a huge lead in Estoril). Makes you wonder if she's picked up an injury somewhere.

Pick: Too close to call. Whoever's less injured.

Sure win bets: Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova
Upset alert: Jelena Jankovic, Sabine Lisicki