Venus Upsets Stosur to Join Serena in Rome Quarters

By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/GettyImages

(May 17th, 2012) With the unexpected withdrawal last night of top seed Victoria Azarenka from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia due to a shoulder injury, the women's event added a bit of intrigue as one side of the draw opened up considerably while the other half remains packed with some of the WTA's biggest stars.

Serena Williams continued her march towards Roland Garros favorite status as she reached the quarterfinals after defeating Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-1. Williams who admitted afterward she was nervous heading into Paris in less than ten days, still looks ready to perhaps reach another final in Rome as she's on the side of the draw that saw Azarenka along with Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska exit yesterday.

Williams will next meet Italy's Flavia Pennetta who crushed Petra Cetkovska 6-0, 6-1 to the delight of the Italian crowd on hand at the Pietrangeli court.

It's the other side of the women's draw that remains packed with some of the biggest names in the WTA. No. 4 seed Petra Kvitova struggled against Sorana Cirstea but the Wimbledon champion pulled off a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win. Kvitova will next meet No. 12 Angelique Kerber who easily dismissed fellow German Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-1.

The surprise of the event continues to be wildcard Venus Williams who appears to have found her best form just in time on the red clay. Facing off against No. 5 seed Sam Stosur, the first set was a bit of a see-saw battle as there were five straight breaks of serve before Williams finally held for 4-2. Williams served for the set at 5-3, but got broken by the Aussie. But Stosur couldn't hang on as she double faulted away the first set.

The second set saw Stosur jump out to a 3-1 lead but Williams rallied to win the last five games to close out a 6-4, 6-3 win at about the same time her younger sister Serena won her match. With the win, Venus will now become the No. 3 ranked American on Monday.

"Every match is a lesson and a challenge for me. I think that all wins are great wins nowadays," Venus Williams said. "I've had to get used to a lot of things and I'm still figuring out a lot. I'm making adjustments at the beginning of every week.

Williams will next meet Maria Sharapova who survived five set points against her in the first set versus Ana Ivanovic before Sharapova closed out the set in a tiebreak. Sharapova had an easier time in the second set as she wrapped up a 7-6, 6-3 win.

Sharapova and Williams share a 3-3 lifetime head to head with Williams winning the last meeting in Stanford back in 2009. This will be their first meeting on clay.

The remaining quarterfinal will feature No. 8 seed Li Na who will take on Dominika Cibulkova who advanced with a walkover after Azarenka withdrew yesterday.