THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ROME -- Unseeded teenager Victoria Azarenka routed 19th-seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open on Tuesday before play was suspended due to rain. The highly touted Azarenka continued her strong form from the last two weeks, when she lost to eventual champion Dinara Safina at the German Open and posted a runner-up finish at the Prague Open. She is ranked a career-high 19th this week, but had to ask for a wild card because she decided late to enter the tournament. Azarenka, an 18-year-old who is from Belarus but resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, improved to 19-9 this year. The 22nd-ranked Bammer was granted a seed when Safina withdrew due to a back injury. Also Tuesday, Italian wild card Roberta Vinci held off Estonian qualifier Kaia Kenepi 6-4, 4-6, 6-0; Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia defeated Gisela Dulko of Argentina 7-6 (1), 6-4; and Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria eliminated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 in a matchup of two qualifiers. Several matches scheduled for Tuesday at the Foro Italico were to be completed Wednesday. Both Williams sisters were scheduled to play their opening matches Wednesday. Seventh-seeded Venus faces Samantha Stosur of Australia and No. 5 Serena takes on Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine in this clay-court warmup for the French Open, which begins May 25.
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