World number one Dinara Safina won her first title of the season on Saturday, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3 to take the 2009 Rome Masters title.

Critics of the world number one, who had soared to the top of the rankings without winning a grand slam or a title in 2009, were quick to point out that Safina had benefited from a poor game by Kuznetsova, who scored 30 unforced errors compared to Safina’s 16.

“Today she was giving away more unforced errors than she usually does,” Safina admitted after the match. “I also played a little bit better. I was trying to get her off the baseline because she feels very confident there. But when she had some chances she was really missing - a lot. In some moments I had to say: ‘thank you very much’.”

Kuznetsova, who defeated Safina in the final of the Stuttgart Open two weeks ago, told reporters that she had been some way off her best form in the Rome Masters final.

“Last week I was dictating the game, I was serving well and I was not doing that many unforced errors,” she said. “I was doing too much and sometimes not doing anything. So it was like a little bit like Christmas today. I was giving away too many presents.”

“Especially given that it was a final, she would not give it to me. I had to fight my way through.”

Jelena Jankovic joined top seeds Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams on the sidelines of the Rome Masters on Thursday, falling 6-1, 7-6 (3) to Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The Serb, who briefly occupied top spot in the WTA rankings at the conclusion of the 2008 tennis season, proved no match for her opponent’s power despite launching a brave fightback in the second set.

“I played what she liked, and, of course, she has more power than me,” Jankovic admitted after the match.

Dinara Safina also came within sight of a quarterfinal exit on Thursday, as Martinez Sanchez put the pressure on in a three set match which Safina eventually won 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

The win set the Russian up with a semifinal clash against Venus Williams, who qualified for the penultimate round of the tournament by defeating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-2.

Victoria Azarenka completed the roster for the semifinals of the 2009 Rome Masters by defeating Kaia Kanepi 7-6 (5), 6-3 in an error-strewn match. Azarenka will face Kuznetsova in her semifinal.

Reigning French Open champion, Ana Ivanovic, became the latest casualty of the 2009 Rome Masters on Wednesday, losing to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in a three set epic at the Foro Italico.

Ivanovic recovered well from a dreadful first set to take the second set with ease. The Serb was 4-0 ahead in the third set and appeared destined to book herself a place in the quarterfinals, before Radwanska rallied with a stunning fightback, winning the next six games to send Ivanovic packing.

I think I was playing pretty well, especially in the third set and the second set,” Ivanovic said after the match. “But she played really well. My serve is getting much better. I feel power on it. It’s back. I just have to stick with the things I’ve been doing.”

World number one Dinara Safina also faced a fight for survival in the third round of the WTA Rome Masters on Wednesday, and needed three sets to put down the challenge of China’s Zheng Jie in a hard-fought 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) victory.

The second round of the 2009 Rome Masters kicked off with a big upset on Tuesday, as Serena Williams was dumped out of the tournament by Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder.

Williams had earlier told the tennis world that she remained the best player in the world despite being bumped off the number one ranking by Dinara Safina.

“We all know who the real No. 1 is,” Williams had said before Schnyder had served up a serving of humble pie in the form of a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 defeat. “Quite frankly, I’m the best in the world.”

Safina, meanwhile, had little trouble advancing to the 3rd round of the 2009 Rome Masters with a 7-6 (1), 6-1 victory over home favourite Virginie Razzano.

Following the match the Russian berated the tournament organizers for allowing play to continue on wet and slippery courts: “I was just so angry, because you can get injured. It’s soft and you’re afraid to play.”

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic and compatriot Ana Ivanovic both survived the treacherous conditions to put away their 2nd round opponents on Tuesday.

Rafael Nadal extended his tournament winning streak to three titles on Sunday, defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2009 Rome Masters.

Djokovic put in a strong performance in the first set, matching the world number one point for point before Nadal closed the set out in a tiebreaker. The seeming indefatigable Spaniard then crushed his Serbian opponent in the second set to win the match 7-6 (7/2), 6-2.

The result saw Novak Djokovic lose his number three ranking in the ATP Tour, with Andy Murray claiming this ranking to become the highest ranked British player in the history of the ATP World Rankings. Nadal, meanwhile, moved within two titles of Andre Agassi’s record of 17 Masters series title wins.

“I would love to have more than 17. Right now I have 15, I’m very happy for that. I’m going to try my best in the next tournaments,” Nadal said after the match. “I started well. He led 40-15 in the first game but then I won it. That was important, the first break.”

“But later it was really tough to return. The ball was bouncing really high and when he put the first serve in it was really tough.”

Roger Federer had an opportunity to avenge his loss to Radek Stepanek during the 2008 Rome Masters on Thursday, defeating the Czech player 6-4, 6-1 in a 3rd round rematch at the 2009 Rome Masters.

The fluent win was welcomed by Federer, who is looking to reverse a steep decline in his career by winning his first ever Masters title on the clay courts of Rome.

“This year was very different. I could read his first serve,” Federer told the BBC after the match. “I didn’t have a problem to attack his serve, whereas last year I was just trying to get the ball into play and then obviously he was able to mix it up and make me doubt much more.”

“I had the control from the baseline. I’m really happy with the performance today. It’s just important that I work hard and get back to my best. I know I’m very close to it.”

Federer was joined in the last eight by world number three, Novak Djokovic, who also put in a much improved performance to demolish Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-1 in the third round.

Rafael Nadal hardly broke a sweat as he secured a place in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Rome Masters, defeating Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-1, 6-0.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer both eased into the third round of the 2009 Rome Masters on Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal reached the third round of the tournament by seeing off home favourite Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-2.

Despite a promising start that saw Seppi break Nadal in the first game of the first set, the Italian proved to be no match for the world number one, who broke back immediately and then proceeded to blast his opponent off the court.

Roger Federer likewise had little trouble eliminating Ivo Karlovic from the 2009 Rome Masters, breaking his opponent early in each set and closing out the match 6-4, 6-4 in under an hour.

“I got off to a good start in both sets, which is always good, kind of comforting against Ivo,” Federer told Sky Sports. “He found his groove later on, on his serve but I already had the break in the second, which is perfect.

“It was just important to be really solid on my serve. I had two close service games in the beginning. From then on, I was pretty much cruising.”

Other players to win on Wednesday included Federer’s compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Robredo as well as Marin Cilic and Fernando Gonzalez.

Two top seeded players suffered upsets as Nikolay Davydenko lost to Jurgen Melzer 7-5 7-6 (7-5) and Richard Gasquet beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.

Andy Murray slipped up in the second round of the 2009 Rome Masters on Wednesday, losing to qualifier Juan Monaco 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in his first match of the tournament.

Murray went into the first set with all guns blazing, running out to a 5 game lead before closing out the set 6-1. However, Monaco made his presence felt in the next two sets, battling back to win the match.

The loss was Murray’s first in the opening rounds of a tournament since August of 2008. Murray last suffered the indignity of a first round departure at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Wednesday’s loss was Murray’s fifth of the 2009 tennis season.

Despite falling at the first hurdle, Murray remained optimistic about the course his career is taking.

“It wasn’t my best match but I was still very close to winning,” Murray told Sky Sports. “This year I’ve found ways of coming through when I haven’t been playing well.

“On clay it’s something I’ve got to work on more but I’m not going to be too disappointed. I’ve had a great eight months and it was going to happen some time.””

“I’ve just got to realise that I’m playing better this year than last year on clay and now I’ll get ready for Madrid.”

Spain’s Tommy Robredo pulled off an impressive comeback in the first round of the 2009 Rome Masters on Tuesday, coming back from a set down to defeat Marat Safin in a rain affected match.

Safin had the best of the early running, racing to a 6-2 one set lead. Rain began to fall towards the end of the set, and when play resumed 2½ hours later it was Rebredo who came to the fore.

The Spaniard made the best of difficult conditions, as both players skidded and fell on the rain-slicked court. Safin soon found himself making a multitude of unforced errors, and Robredo gradually wore down his opponent to score a 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 win.

“The shoes would pick up so much clay that it was like ice skating,” Robredo told the Associated Press after the match. “There was no grip at all. At the end of the third set, I knew that if I was tough mentally I could beat him. It was a great comeback.”

Several second round matches scheduled for Tuesday were postponed until Wednesday, as only a handful of matches were completed in Rome. One of these produced Robredo’s second round opponent, Philipp Kohlschreiber who defeated Simone Bolelli 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 to reach the second round.

The Rome Masters 2008 produced an unexpected result this weekend, when Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic added the Rome Masters title to his rapidly growing collection of championship wins.

Djokovic met up with unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka in a Rome Masters 2008 final pairing that few tennis pundits would have predicted. The Serbian player’s experience paid off in the tournament decider as Wawrinka was unable to acclimatise to the heady heights of a championship final, winning the first set before losing 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

“I was aiming for Rome and Roland Garros as my two priorities on clay courts this season,” Djokovic said following his 10th career tournament victory. “Now I have more confidence approaching big events on clay, and other surfaces as well.”

Novak Djokovic’s win at the Rome Masters 2008 was his second Masters win in four Masters events this year, and will boost the confidence of the ATP Race leader going into the 2008 French Open.

“I was aiming for Rome and Roland Garros as my two priorities on clay courts this season,” Djokovic told the Associated Press. “Now I have more confidence approaching big events on clay, and other surfaces as well.”