For the first time of the season, Agnieszka Radwanska lost to someone not named Victoria Azarenka. (Getty Images)

ROME — Upsets and near-upsets dominated the news Wednesday in the second round of the Italian Open, where Serena Williams survived but John Isner, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki all tumbled out of the last significant lead-up tournament to the French Open.

A boisterous Italian crowd watched hometown favorite Andrea Seppi knock off Isner 2-6, 7-6 (5) 7-5 at the Foro Italico’s Court Pietrangeli. The picturesque court, which is sunk into the ground and surrounded by marble statues, has fast become my favorite non-Slam No. 3 venue because of the noisy atmosphere it generates. Add in the presence of an Italian like Seppi, and any player would feel like he’s playing a Davis Cup match.

(UPDATE: Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the Italian Open with a shoulder injury.)

Isner was understandably devastated after a second straight early departure. The 27-year-old American saved 11 consecutive break points before finally dropping serve at 5-5 in the third set, a break that proved decisive. Unless he takes a wild card into next week’s tournament in Nice, France, Isner will head into Roland Garros with only one victory from tune-up tournaments in Madrid and Rome. Not great for a guy whose confidence on European clay was soaring only a month ago.

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Sloane Stephens, 19, has steadily improved and beat a former top-five player in Rome on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

ROME — Sloane Stephens has never been allergic to Europe’s red clay, and why should she be? A speedy athlete with enough power to get the ball through the court, Stephens has had some of her best results in Europe. Her sole professional title was at an ITF event in Reggio Emelia in Italy last year, which paved the way for her successful qualifying campaign at the French Open.

“Roland Garros is my favorite tournament,” Stephens told SI.com at the Italian Open. “I love Paris.”

Another woman who loves Paris is Serena Williams, and the two bonded while in Ukraine for Fed Cup in April. Asked whether she would get a chance to see Serena’s famed apartment in Paris, Stephens said she wasn’t sure. “I’m not allowed into her residence until I’m 21,” Stephens deadpanned. “So I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I think that’s better for all of us.”

She’s probably right.

Now ranked No. 92 and likely to crack the top 80 after this week, Stephens — whose player credential reads “Skane Stephens” in Rome — won’t have to qualify for the French Open and she’s had some good preparation so far. She’s made it through qualifying in both Estoril and Rome, and on Tuesday she knocked off former world No. 5 Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 for her first main draw win on clay this year. Stephens fell to Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday.

SI.com sat down with Stephens after Tuesday’s victory and fired off some questions from our Q&A bag while the 20-year-old American noshed on paella in the players’ dining area. “I think it’s the food here that makes you play good,” she said. Rome definitely treated her well.

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After capturing the Madrid Open title, Roger Federer hasn’t announced whether he will play in the Italian Open. (Getty Images)

ROME — If you can believe it, we’re one week away from the start of the French Open (qualifying begins May 22nd) and it’s only now that we’ll get to see (hopefully) a full ATP and WTA field go at it on the traditional European red clay. The Internazionali BNL D’Italia is already underway in Rome, where tournament organizers are waiting with bated breath to see if Roger Federer will withdraw from the tournament. The newly crowned Madrid champ landed in Rome on Monday, but says he’ll wait to make a decision after he gets a couple of days rest.

If Federer’s body is feeling the ill-effects from Madrid — his first tournament since losing to Andy Roddick in Miami — then it makes sense not to risk his health this close to the French Open. But that would mean his only preparation for the French would be a quasi-indoor tournament on blue clay that bears no resemblance, in color or play, to the dirt in Paris. That’s a tough calculus to make, but I’d be surprised to see him skip Rome. If Federer does play then we’ll have the top four into a draw for the first time since Miami.

Men’s draw breakdown

Djokovic’s half: Novak said coming back to the red clay in Rome after the calamity of Madrid “felt like paradise.”  The Italians love him here and why wouldn’t they? He has an Italian clothing sponsor and he’s fluent in the native language as well. The defending champion has drawn Federer in his half, along with Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Janko Tipsarevic and John Isner. Del Potro and Tsonga are scheduled for a third round clash and if Isner can put together a string of wins, he could face Federer in the quarterfinals in a rematch of their Davis Cup match. Keep an eye on John. He needs to make a statement here after a disappointing loss in his first match in Madrid.

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Serena Williams is 13-0 on clay this year, with titles in Madrid and Charleston. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The Report Card hands out grades for the week in tennis. This past week, Roger Federer continued his stellar year, Serena Williams fired up a flare for all to see and Madrid’s blue clay dominated the headlines.

Madrid Open: B-plus. For all of the drama, the tournament actually turned out to be highly entertaining. In fact, I wouldn’t mind this nutty surface if it were used outside of the lead-up period for the French Open. It yielded fast, aggressive, first-strike tennis, which was refreshing given the trend toward slowing down courts around the world. But as I said last week, players shouldn’t be forced to play this style on these substandard courts in advance of Roland Garros.

Serena Williams: A. Let’s look at her record on clay this year: two titles (her only titles), 5-0 on green clay, 2-0 on red clay and 6-0 on blue clay. All the while she insists that clay is actually her favorite surface, even preferring it over grass. Sure, the blue and green clay aren’t substitutes for the true European red clay at the French Open, and her red-clay wins were at Fed Cup over two players ranked outside the top 100. But she has beaten Sam Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka on clay this year, and her 6-1, 6-3 destruction of No. 1 Azarenka in the Madrid final sent a startling and simple message: I’m back.

Roger Federer: A. Federer collected his Tour-leading fourth title of the year and record-tying 20th Masters trophy, and climbed to No. 2 in the rankings for the first time since March 2011. Oh, and Federer staked his claim to the label of G.O.A.T. on Blue Clay (hey, it’s a thing). This week marks the first time since May 2010 that Federer is ranked ahead of Nadal, and he should send Novak Djokovic a basket of muffins for helping him do it. Djokovic’s 2011 domination of Nadal helped Federer close the point gap, and the 30-year-old Swiss did the rest: Federer is 45-3 with seven titles since his semifinal loss to Djokovic at the 2011 U.S. Open.

Tomas Berdych: A. The Czech didn’t drop a set until the final and he looked at home on the blue clay, taking advantage of his big game on the quick surface to dominate Gael Monfils and Fernando Verdasco and edge Juan Martin del Potro in two tiebreakers. (He even posted New Order’s Blue Monday on his Facebook page mid-week.) With a semifinal appearance in Monte Carlo and runner-up finish in Madrid, he’s rounding into form nicely for the French Open.

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Roger Federer and Serena Williams, born seven weeks apart in 1981, are showing no signs of slowing down. (Susana Vera/Reuters; Juan Carlos Hidalgo/EPA)

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Roger Federer recaptured the No. 2 ranking from Rafael Nadal with his 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Tomas Berdych, and Serena Williams recaptured the right to wave her index finger in the air with a decisive 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in Madrid. Here are five thoughts on the Madrid Open finals, where two resilient champions showed just why they’re the greatest male and female players of their generation.

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The steadily improving Agnieszka Radwanska has cracked the top three in the rankings for the first time in her career. (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Hold up. Agnieszka Radwanska is now the No. 3 player in the world? How did that happen?

The short answer is that because of scheduling changes this year, the points that Petra Kvitova earned from her 2011 Madrid title fell off on Monday, dropping her behind Radwanska, who is in the top three for the first time in her career. The long answer is that this has been in the works for quite some time now.

Other than a surprising second-round loss to Angelique Kerber at the U.S. Open last year — a defeat that doesn’t look so bad now that Kerber is on the verge of cracking the top 10 — Radwanska has had an incredible last 10 months highlighted by Premier-level titles in Carlsbad, Tokyo, Beijing, Dubai and Miami. Her strong finish to 2011 teed up her exemplary 2012, when she’s advanced to the quarterfinals in every tournament she’s entered (eight total), a feat matched only by the two women ranked ahead of her, No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and No. 2 Maria Sharapova.

Speaking of Azarenka, Radwanska’s year could be even better if she hadn’t been in Vika’s half of the draw constantly. They’ve been placed in the same half in every tournament they’ve played together this year and, much to Aga’s chagrin, Azarenka has won all five meetings.

The good news for Radwanska is that she’s one one spot away from avoiding Azarenka’s half of the draw. And getting that No. 2 ranking isn’t out of the question. Radwanska won only one match in Madrid and Rome combined last year, giving her a great opportunity to collect a load of points — up to 1,800 — over the next two weeks. Though she trails Sharapova by 1,510 points, Sharapova’s Rome points (900 after winning the title last year) drop next Monday, whereas Radwanska is defending a single ranking point.

Could Aga sneak into the French Open as the No. 2 seed? As she’s shown since last August, anything is possible.

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When it comes to the blue clay in Madrid, there’s one thing we can all agree on: We’re all talking about the blue clay in Madrid. For a tournament without much history, that’s not a bad marketing coup. I’ll get to talking about the actual tennis that’s being played on these courts soon. Until then, here are some initial thoughts after bathing in the sea of blue that was the Caja Majica while sitting on my couch watching Tennis Channel’s early coverage.

• Better optics. Is the true, no? Among tournament owner Ion Tiriac’s defenses of blue clay, the one that’s universally convincing is that it offers better viewing for spectators. No doubt that the color contrast between the ball and the court is significantly better with blue as the backdrop. Watching red-clay tournaments on a non-HD television (or even worse, an online feed) can sometimes feel like a futile endeavor, where I pretend like I can totally see the ball when, really, I totally can’t see the ball. So watching matches on Tennis Channel in standard definition was great. You can track the ball as well as you can on a hard court. Which brings me to my next point …

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Serena Williams appeared on Piers Morgan Tonight last week and even picked up a wooden racket  – or more accurately, a wooden racket was shoved into her hand — for a light hit with the CNN host at the Vanderbilt Tennis and Fitness Club in New York.

The most interesting portion of the interview came when Williams opened up about her ever-mysterious love life, which, if you follow her on Twitter, is always on her mind.

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Juan Martin del Potro defended his title at the Estoril Open by dropping No. 2-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2. (Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters)

The Report Card hands out grades for the week in tennis. This past week, Juan Martin del Potro won another title and Sara Errani continued her clay-court winning streak.

Juan Martin del Potro: A. The Argentine successfully defended his title at the Estoril Open without dropping a set, beating Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday to extend his 2012 clay record to 6-0 and improve to 27-6 this year. Ranked 11th, Del Potro’s six losses this year have come against quality opponents: Roger Federer (four times), David Ferrer and Marcos Baghdatis. So at what point do we set aside our tempered expectations given his comeback from wrist surgery and begin to anticipate more?

Sara Errani: A. By defeating Elena Vesnina 7-5, 6-4 for the Budapest title, the Italian stretched her winning streak on clay to 15 and she heads into Madrid fresh off consecutive titles in Hungary and Barcelona. Errani moved to 16-1 on clay this year and she’s dropped only three sets on the surface (not counting the second set of her one clay loss, a retirement at Fed Cup when she was trailing Lesia Tsurenko 1-6, 0-3). Given the quick turnaround, I don’t expect too much from her in Madrid, though if she can get past Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round, there’s no reason to think she can’t make the semifinals. But look out for her when she plays Rome.

Philipp Kohlschreiber: A. The No. 1 German done good in Munich, capturing his second title at the BMW Open, where he knocked off Feliciano Lopez in the semifinals and Marin Cilic in the final. I guess the guy just really loves Bimmers.

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It’s time to stop wondering how Madrid’s blue clay will play and start watching. The draws for the Madrid Open are out and as I wipe the blue dust from my notebook, here are a few observations for what’s shaping up to be a very exciting tournament. Main draw play begins on Saturday. Here are the full women’s and men’s draws.

Fresh off a win in Stuttgart, Maria Sharapova has a shot at taking over the No. 1 ranking in Madrid. (Getty Images)

1. No. 1 up for grabs (kinda): Maria Sharapova has a slim chance of taking over the No. 1 spot from Victoria Azarenka. She needs to win the title and Azarenka has to lose in the first round. Like I said, it’s a slim chance but not completely out of reach considering Azarenka has drawn Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round. The two played in Indian Wells and Kuznetsova got only three games off the eventual champion. But Vika’s 0-2 against the 2009 French Open champion on clay. An opening-round loss isn’t out of the question.

Of course, Sharapova would have to do her part and win the title. The draw gods haven’t made things easy for her, as she has by far the toughest road. Much like Miami, she’s drawn all the big hitters in her half: Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur. Sharapova could face Serena in the quarterfinals in a match that would surely turn heads.

2. Isner’s tough road: Speaking of unkind, John Isner won’t have an opportunity to play himself into form, as his draw is absolutely brutal. His projected road to the final starts with a second-round match against Marin Cilic, then Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and some guy named Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. All this while trying to navigate the slippery blue clay that is reportedly playing heavy and yielding lower bounces than usual, which could take some of the bite off Isner’s serve.

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