Despite a really difficult match, Sara is in the third round in Rome! The first half of the match went quite well, and Sara took a 7-5, 5-2 lead. But then, as she said after the match, she “got nervous and couldn’t close a single point.” She had 5 matchpoints in the second set, but lost the set 7-5. In the third set, Sara took a quick 5-0 lead, and had another three matchpoints before finally closing out the match at 5-2, on her 9th matchpoints.

It may have been tough today, but getting through tough matches is always a good thing! In the third round, Sara will face Maria Kirilenko.

Sara and Roberta also started their doubles tournament today. After a bye, they beat Mladenovic/Voskoboeva in the 2nd round, 7-5, 6-4.

Of course all the best pictures from Rome, both oncourt and offcourt, can be found in the photogallery. Also, after blogging for the WTA last week, Sara blogs for the Gazzetta dello Sport this week!