WTA Rome Tuesday Preview

Maria Kirilenko vs. Andrea Petkovic

Kirilenko and Petkovic will meet on Tuesday in what promises to be a highly entertaining first round match from Rome. Maria Kirilenko and Andrea Petkovic have never met in a tour match before however that will change on Tuesday as they meet in the first round of the 2011 WTA Rome Premier Mandatory tournament.

Neither player has been overly impressive lately as Kirilenko suffered a first round loss in Madrid to Jarmila Gajdosova while Petkovic lost in the second round to Arantxa Parra Santonja.

Looking back a little further, Petkovic did beat Jelena Jankovic back in Stuttgart, an impressive win, while Kirilenko did little back on the clay courts of Charleston as she fell in the second round of that tournament.

Petkovic, ranked 15th, currently outranks Kirilenko on tour by fifteen spots and the German has been playing well in the last year. This match looks like one of the better ones in the first round of WTA Rome however Petkovic has been the more consistent player between the two.

Maria Sharapova vs. Ekaterina Makarova

Sharapova eliminated Makarova from Madrid not long ago as the two players meet in the second straight tournament. Maria Sharapova had a bye through the first round of WTA Rome 2011 and in round two she will face fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova.

The two players had never met on tour prior to May 2011 however their Tuesday match from Rome, one that could be very competitive, will be their second meeting in the month. Sharapova won their first match in three sets in the round of 32 in Madrid on May 2nd and the former world number one threatens to stand in Makarova's way once again.

Makarova, who is not ranked high enough for a first round bye, struggled as she played Maria Jose Maria Sanchez to a close third set before prevailing in Rome earlier this week and one has to like Sharapova's chances in Rome. Sharapova might have had a subpar result in Madrid but she only lost, in what was a close match, to a high quality clay courter in Dominika Cibulkova, a 2009 French Open semifinalist.

Francesca Schiavone vs. Christina McHale

The second seed in the Rome Masters will need to be sharp as Schiavone faces the young American, Christina McHale, in a first ever meeting between the two. WTA Rome 2011 continues on Tuesday and in one match the second seed in the tournament, Francesca Schiavone, will play her first match.

Schiavone had a bye through the first round but she will be active on Tuesday as she faces American teenager Christina McHale.

McHale is a tricky opponent for Schiavone as the reigning French Open champion has not been on the sharpest form. Schiavone is just 2-2 during the clay court season with losses to Agniezska Radwanska and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The Italian is playing in a home tournament in Rome however and that should serve as motivation as she looks to get on better form before heading into her Roland Garros title defense.

McHale enters the match on a high as she won a very competitive match in the first round of play against Shuai Peng (9-7 in third set tiebreaker). Her current ranking is still just 92nd on tour and while that should be going more or less upward in the upcoming months, McHale is still not looking strong enough to beat Schiavone in what promises to be a hostile environment.

Schiavone, ranked number 5 right now and probably sinking in the near future, enters the match as a favorite against McHale. The Italian fans in Rome looking for a home country favorite to get behind should not be disappointed with Tuesday's results.