 Clijsters next faces 16th seed Dinara Safina |
Kim Clijsters overcame a slow start to beat Akiko Morigami and reach the third round of the Italian Open in Rome. The Belgian second seed dropped the first set but stepped up a gear to beat the Japanese qualifier 4-6 6-1 6-3.
Clijsters said: "I was struggling with a cold. In the second and third sets it started to go better, but I still have a lot of work to do."
In other matches, French 17th seed Nathalie Dechy was easily ousted 6-2 6-2 by Russian's Vera Zvonareva.
Japan's Ai Sugiyama, seeded 18th, also made a second-round exit, beaten 6-2 4-6 6-4 by Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva had the easiest of passages, getting an walkover against injured Chinese player Shuai Peng.
Home hopeful Romina Oprandi continued her good run, beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2 6-2.
MMIX
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