ROME, May 17: Former Roland Garros champion Anastasia Myskina played through a thigh injury to manage a patchy 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci to move into the third round of the Rome Masters on Wednesday.

The tenth-seeded Russian was one of three compatriots who advanced on a sunny day at the Foro Italico, joining 16th seed Dinara Safina who beat Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 6-4, 6-4.

Number five Elena Dementieva didn't have to strike a ball in anger as China's Shuai Peng withdrew injured before their second-round match, sending the Russian ahead.

Italo-Swiss Romina Oprandi, whose double lip piercing appears to be the only one on the WTA Tour, provided a victory for the hosts as she whipped Australian Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2.

Germany's 11th-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld eased past Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-4, 6-3.

Myskina, who won the French Open in 2004, took treatment on both thighs, confirming later that she first suffered the problem in her opening match.

The momentum shifts between Msykina and Vinci were frequent, with the Russian sweeping the first set but feeling the pain to drop the second.

The third set was plagued by six breaks of serves in ten games. Myskina on Thursday faces a showdown with compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won the US Open two years ago three months after Myskina lifted Paris.

Russian fourth seed Nadia Petrova joined compatriot Maria Sharapova on the sidelines, pulling out before her opening match with a pectoral strain picked up during last weekend's Berlina title. Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo withdrew at the weekend due to illness. Petrova is expected to be fit for the French Open.

Results (second round):

6-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Vera Dushevina (Russia) 7-6 6-2; 10-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) beat Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-0 1-6 6-4; Romina Oprandi (Italy) beat Samantha Stosur (Australia) 6-2 6-2; Jelena Jankovic (Serbia and Montenegro) beat Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (Spain) 6-3 4 -6 6-2 16-Dinara Safina (Russia) beat Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 6-4 6-4; 11-Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) beat Aiko Nakamura (Japan) 6-4 6-3.

GAUDIO OUSTED

HAMBURG: Former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio lost a good lead, his shorts, and the match in an extraordinary series of upsets in one second round encounter in the Masters Series.

Gaudio was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 by the very impressive 21-year-old French qualifier, Gilles Simon, despite having led 3-0 and 4-1 in the final set.

The score was 4-4 and deuce in the final set when the fourth seeded Argentine made a dash for a ball and caught his hand in his shorts splitting them.

Gaudio was obliged to go to the courtside in the middle of his service game and change them, and even worse, he had to resume at game point down.

In fact there was no penalty point, but Simon played the next rally well, broke serve, and then served out for the match and the best win of his career.

It may have helped Simon to have played on the same court where the previous day he completely overwhelmed Greg Rusedski, the former US Open champion from Great Britain.

Gaudio got an immediate break to lead 2-0 but Simon broke back for 4-4, and produced a tremendous sprint to reach a drop shot at set point and followed it with a winning smash.

He was then far from perturbed when Gaudio's sensational backhand and canny angles helped him to level at a set all and then break immediately at the start of the final set.

Later there was another upset when Nicolas Kiefer, the ninth seeded German was overwhelmed 6-2, 6-2 by the net-rushing of Max Mirnyi, the tall Belarussian.

Results (second round):

7-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-7 6-1 6-3; 12-Mario Ancic (Croatia) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 3-6 6-4 6-0; Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Novak Djokovic (Serbia and Montenegro) 6-4 6-3; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 6-3 3-6 6-2; Gilles Simon (France) beat 6-Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) 6-4 3-6 6-4; Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-4 6-4; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat 9-Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-2 6-2; 16-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Flavio Saretta (Brazil) 6-1 7-6(9); 8-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Florent Serra (France) 3-6 6-3 6-2; 15-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat Bjoern Phau (Germany) 6-4 6-3; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-2 6-4; 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-1 6-2; 13-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-1 6-0.--Agencies