Venus victorious, Sharapova up next in Rome Quarters

Venus Williams

The third round action in Rome for both the men and women wrapped up on Thursday ensuring a fantastic order of play for the quarter-finals on Friday.  Venus Williams had one of her best wins since returning to the tour as she defeated Sam Stosur, 6-4 6-3.  In truth, it was not a pretty match from both but Venus was the better player and managed to break the Stosur serve on six occasions.  She will play Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals, who overcame Ana Ivanovic in an entertaining match, 7-6 6-3.  Sharapova fought off six set points in the opening set and also came back from a break down in the second set.  Ivanovic had her chances in this match and will be kicking herself she could not convert them.

In other matches, Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber won to set up an intriguing quarter-final.  Kerber produced another impressive performance to take out Julia Goerges, 6-4 6-1 and inch closer to breaking into the world's top ten.  Kvitova was at her irratic best, but found a way past Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 5-7 6-2.  Kvitova and Kerber last played in Stuttgart where Kvitova dominated in straight sets; however on a slower clay court I fancy a much tighter clash.  Li Na also struggled for consistency in her 7-6 6-2 win over Chanelle Scheepers, but prevailed to set up a quarter-final with Dominika Cibulkova.  The final quarter-final will see home favourite Flavia Pennetta take on Serena Williams.  Pennetta produced a superb performance to stun Agnieszka Radwanska's conqueror, Petra Cetkovska, 6-0 6-1.

In the men's tournament, the big upset saw Andy Murray exit the competition as Richard Gasquet continued his love affair with the clay courts in Rome. The highlight of the day was the match between Stanislas Wawrinka and Andrea Seppi with Seppi producing an astonishing victory in front of a fantastic crowd on the Pietriangeli court.  He won 6-7 7-6 7-6, saving six match points in the second and third set tiebreaks to claw out the win in an epic 3 hours and 21 minutes... the match of the tournament so far, for sure!

Highlights from the Wawrinka/Seppi match

WTA Predictions:

Li to beat Cibulkova in 2 sets

S. Williams to beat Pennetta in 2 sets

Kerber to beat Kvitova in 3 sets

Sharapova to beat V. Williams in 2 sets

ATP Predictions:

Djokovic to beat Tsonga in 2 sets

Federer to beat Seppi in 2 sets

Ferrer to beat Gasquet in 2 sets

Nadal to beat Berdych in 2 tight sets