Kuznetsova fails to join Sharapova
 |  Kuznetsova slumped to a straight sets defeat to Argentine Suarez |
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ROME, Italy -- Top seed Maria Sharapova has reached the last 16 of the Rome Masters but Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova failed to join her.
Sharapova beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 6-2 while fifth seed Kuznetsova lost 6-2 6-4 to Argentine doubles specialist Paola Suarez.
Suarez, world ranked 28, was delighted with her victory after first round exits in her last four tournaments.
"Given that this was my first event on clay this year I thought that I played very well," she said.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Sharapova, who hit 32 winners but made 26 unforced errors, admitted there was plenty of room for improvement after a patchy performance riddled with mistakes.
"The first match was never going to be easy and I had to be really patient, but it's good to get it over with," said the 18-year-old, who will become world number one for the first time if she wins the title here.
"There were a lot of points that I set up really well, but then I made some basic errors. I didn't feel my strokes at all and I wasn't playing great. That's the way it goes. You can't play well all the time."
Asked how important it was for her to win the tournament and dethrone Lindsay Davenport as world number one, Sharapova replied: "I'd love to win it and I'll be working very hard to do so."
Seeded trio Tatiana Golovin, Elena Likhovtseva and Daniela Hantuchova all suffered humiliating first round exits at the Foro Italico.
Serbian Ana Ivanovic defeated French 12th seed Golovin 6-3 6-4, while Israel's Anna Smashnova beat Russian 11th seed Likhovtseva 6-1 6-3.
Slovakian 16th seed Hantuchova lost 6-1 6-2 to Croatian Sanda Mamic.
The clay court Rome Masters is a warm-up event for the French Open, which starts on May 23.
