Day 7 May 21, 2006
SAFIN IS BIGGER, STRONGER, YOUNGER, BUT LONG-SOUGHT FIRST TITLE IS HINGIS'

She's No. 1 in her family. She had the week of her tennis life. She had the crowd's darling on the ropes, and sure could have beaten Martina Hingis in arm wrestling or weight-lifting.

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Day 6 May 20, 2006
VENUS ROLLS OUT A BAGEL BUT HINGIS POPS FROM TOASTER INTO THE FINAL

Friends, Romans, countrymen - Martina's back in town. And Venus, too. Lend them your cheers.

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Day 5 May 19, 2006
DRIVING KOOZY KOOKOO, OBSTINATE OUTSIDER OPRANDI IS A NEAR MISS

That baby-faced bomber, Dinara Safin is still roaming the Foro menacingly, smiling and smiting tennis balls. This quarter-final win, 6-1, 6-1, over No. 8 Elena Dementieva is particulary satisfying because it gives her some Moscow bragging rights. Not that this sturdy, polite Russian would brag.

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Day 4 May 18 2006
ITALY'S LIONESSE GETS HER TEETH PULLED, GROWL STILLED BY HINGIS

This is a bad third round day for the "tifosi" - rabid fans - who are looking for wins from the best Italian, Francesca Schiavone, and supposedly the best player in town, top-seeded Kim Clijsters. Clijsters, the cheery U.S. Open champ, runs into a 6-foot-1 speed bump from Moscow, Dinara Safin, and becomes an accident, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

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Day 3 May 17, 2006
HAD TO HAVE A DAY TO PLAY TOURIST, RECALLING POOR SPORT CARAVAGGIO

Took the day off. You shouldn't be in Rome and not wander the town. Looked in on a magnificent exhibition of Antonello da Messina's paintings at the Scuderie del Qurinale. He was around in the 15th century, about the time tennis was first making an impression in Renaissance Italy.

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Day 2 May 16, 2006
LITTLE SISTER SAFINA CLAIMS FAMILY SUPREMACY OVER BIG BRO MARAT

"Well, I'm No. 1 in the family now," laughs towering Dinara Safina, the little (though not so little) sister of Marat Safin, owner of U.S. (2000) and Australian (2005) Open titles. Marat, struggling at No. 51, crashed here in the second round to Spanish qualifier Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.

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Day 1 May 15, 2006
MYSKINA AIN'T MISSING - YET - BUT AZARENKA ASSAULTS HER, OUR EARS

The struggling ex-French (2004) champ, No. 13 Anastasia Myskina has her hands full with a sweet-swinging 16-year-old, qualifier from Belarus, Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka, a lefty, serves for the match at 6-5 in the third, loses the game on a double fault, but forges on to a 4-3 lead in the tie-breaker only to lose, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), as her forehand sails an inch wide.

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Introduction May 14, 2006
THE WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS

While numerous journalists departed Rome with the men for chilly, rainy Hamburg, we stuck it out through the hardships of sunshine, swimming at the Cavalieri Hilton and dinners at a marvelous neighborhood restaurant, Da Luciano (50 Via Prisciano), run by the Arrigoni family.

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