Venus to face Stosur in Rome return

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ROME (Reuters) - Venus Williams will face Samantha Stosur when she returns this week after more than a month out of action after the Australian beat Michaella Krajicek 6-3 6-2 on Monday to set up a second-round encounter at the Italian Open.

The American six-times grand slam champion, seeded seventh for this tournament, has been sidelined with an unspecified medical problem.

Russian 10th seed Vera Zvonareva stayed on course to meet Williams in the third round by beating Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-3.

Zvonareva, the top seed playing on Monday, lost her serve four times in the match but was able to break the Japanese player almost at will to ease through.

Zvonareva's compatriot Dinara Safina, who won the German Open on Sunday and was defeated in the Rome final by Martina Hingis in 2006, has pulled out of the tournament with a back injury, organisers said.

Her place has gone to Austria's Sybille Bammer.

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