Williams, Clijsters power into Rome third round
Eleanor Preston
Fourth seed Serena Williams marched into the third round of the Italian Open, overpowering Italy's Rita Grande 6-0 6-3 in little over an hour on Wednesday.
Last year's French Open finalist Kim Clijsters was equally authoritative in her 6-3 6-2 win over Russian Elena Likhovtseva but defending champion Jelena Dokic was below par as she beat Israel's Anna Smashnova 6-3 3-6 6-1.
Williams, who reached her first claycourt final last weekend at the German Open where she lost a thrilling three-set title match to Belgian Justine Henin, was in commanding form throughout her demolition of Grande.
It was 47 minutes before the Italian could hold serve and her lightweight game was no match for the younger Williams sister, who said she enjoyed playing with the Italian crowd against her.
"I think it was tough enough for me today for sure," said Williams.
"I felt like I was playing a bit in slow motion.
"It seems like when I go to matches I always seem to play their countrymen so I'm used to it now," she said.
Henin also moved into the third round although she found life far tougher against another Italian, Francesca Schiavone.
Last year's Wimbledon finalist had to battle hard in the first set as Schiavone dug in but having clinched the first set on a tiebreaker Henin moved up a gear to win 7-6 6-2.
TITLE DEFENCE
Dokic battled hard to get past the resilient Israeli Smashnova in her defence of the Rome title.
"It wasn't easy, especially on clay," admitted the Yugoslavian.
"She's had some good results this year. I beat her once this year but I also lost to her in Charleston so I knew what to expect.
"I could have played a few points better but overall I'm happy that I won."
Dokic beat Amelie Mauresmo in last year's Rome final to take her first title.
"I had such a great time here last year and coming back as defending champion isn't easy. It's a lot to ask to win the tournament again so I'm just trying to take it one match at a time."
Mauresmo herself was in dominant form, beating fellow Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-1 7-5, while 2000 Roland Garros champion Mary Pierce set up a third round clash with French and Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati after beating 13th seed Patty Schnyder 6-3 1-6 6-2.
Kim Clijsters, seeded third in Rome, wasted little time in disposing of Likhovtseva. After losing early in Berlin last week, Clijsters is in search of match practice before the French Open gets underway in 12 days' time.
Eighth seed Sandrine Testud joined Clijsters in the third round with an emphatic 6-1 6-1 win over qualifier Julia Vakulenko. Russia's Tatiana Panova is also through after her opponent Henrieta Nagyova retired with a right thigh strain at 6-0 5-2 down.
