Li Na, Maria Sharapova Advance In 2nd Round Of 2013 Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome)

Li Na (click to enlarge)

Last time we saw Li Na she was on the wrong side of an upset at the hands of Madison Keys in Madrid. The 2011 Roland Garros champion was back to her winning ways in the 2nd round of the 2013 Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome). Li Na took out countrywoman Zheng Jie 6-3 6-1 to advance to the 3rd round (Li had a bye in the 1st round). She will face another of my favorites, Jelena Jankovic. That will be a tough match for me to determine a rooting favorite, as will Maria Sharapova’s next match. Masha zipped through Garbine Muguruza 6-2 6-2. That’s great. What tough for me as a fan is that she gets Sloane Stephens next. I am a much bigger Masha fan, but I do like Sloane a lot, too. This one’s easier to sort out that Li Na and JJ. Masha is the defending champion in Rome and I would very much like to see her repeat. We’ll see if Victoria Azarenka or Serena Williams have anything to say about that.

SINGLES – SECOND ROUND
[14] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d Melanie Oudin (USA)	\| 5 – 7 \| 6 – 1 \| 6 – 3 \|
Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) d Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)	\| 6 – 4 \| 6 – 4 \|
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) d Romina Oprandi (SUI)	\| 6 – 4 \| 6 – 2 \|
[2] Maria Sharapova (RUS) d Garbine Muguruza (ESP)	\| 6 – 2 \| 6 – 2 \|
[16] Sloane Stephens (USA) d Kiki Bertens (NED)	\| 4 – 6 \| 6 – 3 \| 6 – 2 \|
[7] Sara Errani (ITA) d Christina McHale (USA)	\| 7 – 5 \| 5 – 7 \| 6 – 2 \|
[3] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d Julia Goerges (GER)	\| 6 – 2 \| 6 – 0 \|
Ayumi Morita (JPN) d Urszula Radwanska (POL)	\| 6 – 3 \| 6 – 1 \|
[9] Samantha Stosur (AUS) d Shuai Peng (CHN)	\| 7 – 6 (5) \| 6 – 0 \|
[5] Na Li (CHN) d Jie Zheng (CHN)	\| 6 – 3 \| 6 – 1 \|
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d Bojana Jovanovski (SRB)	\| 6 – 2 \| 6 – 0 \|
[13] Roberta Vinci (ITA) d Nastassja Burnett (ITA)	\| 6 – 1 \| 6 – 4 \|
[12] Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d Varvara Lepchenko (USA)	\| 6 – 3 \| 6 – 1 \|