regroup and refocus because I did n't want to waste my energy on that . '' Williams was seeking to repeat her 2002 Rome triumph in what was her first tournament since winning the Australian Open in late January , injuring her knee in doing so . `` I almost feel like I won that match . I ca n't be really upset , but I am , '' she said . `` I feel I should have won -- I could have won . But I ca n't beat myself up over it , I 've just come back and had n't played a match since January . '' Ivanovic , who has slumped to 58th in the rankings since winning the French Open in 2008 , was seeking to reach her first WTA Tour final since March 2009 . But she was unable to show the form that this week knocked out ninth seed Victoria Azarenka and Olympic champion Elena Dementieva as she was crushed 6-4 6-2 by world No. 26 Martinez-Sanchez . Her 27-year-old opponent followed up her own upset win over world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday by reaching her third WTA Tour final .
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic overcame current top-ranked player Serena Williams in an epic clash to reach the final of the Italian Open on Friday . However , hopes of an all-Serbian showdown were dashed when the return to form of another previous No. 1 , Ana Ivanovic , was ended by Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez in the other semifinal in Rome . Jankovic , who won the clay tournament in 2007 and 2008 , followed up her quarterfinal victory over Serena 's fourth-seeded older sister Venus by triumphing 4-6 6-3 7-6 -LRB- 7-5 -RRB- in two and three-quarter hours . The seventh seed fought back from 3-0 and 4-2 down to save a match-point in the deciding tie-breaker as she overcame what seemed like delaying tactics by the American when serving on a vital point . `` I was just getting ready to serve and I was serving and all of a sudden she was n't ready , '' Jankovic told reporters . `` For me when the server comes to play the receiver has to be ready -- that 's the rules . `` But unfortunately I had to hit another serve ,