Top seed Ivanovic out of Italian Open

ROME, Italy (AP) -- Top seed Ana Ivanovic was upset by Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 5-7 6-2 in the second round of the Italian Open on Wednesday.

Ivanovic struggled with her consistency and serving and never seemed comfortable on the red clay at the Foro Italico. She committed 59 unforced errors to Pironkova's 26.

"I felt quite flat out there and I found it a struggle to find my rhythm and to find something inside to fight," Ivanovic said.

"I really struggled with my intensity today, and that obviously caused a lot of errors."

Ivanovic was elevated to top seed in this clay-court warmup for the French Open when top-ranked Justine Henin withdrew.

Henin announced her retirement from tennis on Wednesday, leaving no clear favorite for the upcoming French Open later this month, particularly with the patchy form of the other leading women's players.

Ivanovic had missed the prestigious WTA Tier One tournament for the last two years due to injuries.

At the German Open last week, Serbian Ivanovic lost to Elena Dementieva in the semifinals.

The 64th-ranked Pironkova also beat Venus Williams at the 2006 Australian Open. Meanwhile, both Williams sisters advanced on Wednesday, as did defending champion Jelena Jankovic.

Fifth-seeded Serena routed Alona Bondarenko 6-2 6-0 and No. 7 Venus overcame an early challenge from Samantha Stosur before beating the Australian 6-4 6-1.

Playing her first WTA-level tournament after a long illness layoff, Stosur broke Williams' serve in the opening game of the match. Williams broke back to get to 4-4 in the first set, then cruised through the second.

Venus had been out for a month with an unspecified medical problem, which she would still not discuss in detail.

"I feel much better. I went to the doctor and got a lot of suggestions, and I went home and worked on it," she said. "I just worked very hard during that time that I was off the court with my fitness, and I think it's made a big difference."

Venus won this tournament in 1999 and was the runner-up in 1998. Her best result since then was a semifinal appearance two years ago.

Fourth-seeded Jankovic beat Flavia Pennetta 6-1 6-4 in the Italian's second match of the day while another Italian, Sara Errani, upset 11th seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-0 6-3.

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