Wednesday, 14 May, 2008

Serena Williams will have to wait to continue her bid for a fourth title this season after rain wrought havoc at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded American's second-round clash with Alona Bondarenko was one of six matches to fall victim to the weather.

Two matches in progress were also suspended, which will make for a busy Wednesday at the clay-court event.

Venus Williams was also due to play on Tuesday, the seventh-seed set to make her return to the WTA Tour after missing more than a month with an undisclosed illness.

Tuesday's only other second-round clash was to be between eighth seed Marion Bartoli and her French compatriot Virginie Razzano. Bartoli has played poorly this season, with just seven wins and one semi-final appearance in 10 events.

Only four of the 10 scheduled first-round matches - all involving unseeded players - were completed.

Victoria Azarenka, Dominika Cibulkova and Roberta Vinci all advanced, as did Klara Zakopalova, who will next face top-seed Ana Ivanovic in the next round.

Cibulkova will play second seed Maria Sharapova in the second round.

Ekaterina Makarova led Nicole Vaidisova 6-4 1-2, and Maria Kirilenko led Nadia Petrova 3-6 7-5 2-1 when play was halted.

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Murray marches on
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Rain disrupts play in Rome
Doubles defeat for Murray