Jankovic, Serena reach Italian Open quarters

By Paul Virgo

ROME (Reuters) - American Serena Williams and holder Jelena Jankovic moved into the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with wins over unseeded opponents.
Fifth seed Williams tamed lively Italian wildcard Sara Errani 6-4 6-3, while Serbian fourth seed Jankovic strolled past Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-1 6-1.
Williams twice came back from a break down in the first set before taking Errani's serve in the final game with the help of two big smashes and a net-cord winner.

Italy's last hope in the tournament also proved a worthy opponent in the second set, when former world number one Williams again recovered to clinch the match.
Jankovic played assured tennis, mixing her strokes well, but Kirilenko made some careless errors and at one stage blasted a ball into the stands in frustration.
Swiss ninth seed Patty Schnyder stayed on course for a quarter-final with Maria Sharapova by edging a fine tussle with eighth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 4-6 6-4 7-6.
Russian Sharapova, heading the queue to become world number one next week after Justine Henin retired from tennis on Wednesday, meets Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in the third round later on Thursday.
Serena's sister Venus Williams, seeded seven, takes on Russian 10th seed Vera Zvonareva in the late match with the winner facing Jankovic in the last eight.