Wednesday, May 17 2006 15:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Rome: Former champion Venus Williams rolled over her second Czech in as many matches Tuesday, then expressed her delight at victory as she spoke Italian to a national television audience at the Rome Masters.

The ninth seed was untroubled by Lucie Safarova in a 6-1, 6-4 success which put the American into the third round.

Less than 24 hours earlier, 1999 champion Williams, playing only her third tournament of the season, had defeated Zuzana Ondraskova with the loss of just four games.

Williams, 12th in the world, showed she has not wasted time during her long absences from the court in 2006 as she spoke in reasonable Italian during a post-match interview.

"The second set was more difficult than the first, but I played well. I hope to keep it up for the rest of the week," she said in Italian, admitting that her learning curve was a brief one. "Italian is an easy language, much easier than English," he said.

Williams began her spring clay campaign last month in Warsaw, where she reached the quarter-finals and claimed a win over Martina Hingis in the second round.

This season, she withdrew from Antwerp, Dubai, Miami and Charleston due to right elbow and arm injuries, but made her return in Warsaw, where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Hingis, Williams' long-time rival, came through with a win against Czech 12th seed Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-3.

With inactive sister Serena missing as she takes an unspecified leave from the game, Venus showed up at the Foro Italico for the first time in six years in singles.

"I love Rome," was the refrain of the legendary shopper who owns three Wimbledon titles and two from the US Open.

"I have a lot of friends here and this is my first interview in Italian," he said.

Williams joined Milan's 'Lionessa' Francesca Schiavone in the third round as the London-based player led three other compatriots to wins.

The eighth seed defeated compatriot Mara Santangelo 6-4, 6-0, while number 15 Flavia Pennetta claimed her first-round match in a struggle with Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

The 20-year-old qualifier Romina Oprandi added to the victory haul with a defeat of Kristina Brandi 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 while Roberta Vinci put out Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 6-1.

Samantha Stosur clawed back a victory for Australia as she upset Slovak 13th seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

That surprise came just a few hours after Kararina Srebotnik spoiled the comeback, after seven months out through illness, of Alicia Molik, defeating the Australian 6-2, 6-0 on an outside court.