On a day where many seeded competitors were upset, No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula faced minimal resistance in her Italian Open opener Friday, coasting to a 6-4, 6-0 defeat of Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in Rome.
Pegula, who lost her second match in her last tournament at Madrid, was clinical in this match, facing just one break point while converting 4 of 7 on Sonmez’s serve.
“It was really good. The first set was pretty tough … then I started to play a little bit more free,” Pegula told the Tennis Channel. “I’m happy with my performance today.”
Pegula won 72.9% of her service points and 50% of her return points, finishing with three aces against no double faults on the clay-court surface.
“I was a little nervous and I was on edge coming into today. She already had a match under her belt. I felt better getting through.”
Next up for the American will be Switzerland’s Rebekah Masarova, who knocked out 25th-seeded Canadian Leylah Fernandez 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Masarova was twice down a break in the second set, but rallied and came away with the only break of the decisive set.
She struggled on her serve with 10 double faults and hitting on 58% of her first serves. But when she hit those, she was dominant, winning 82.7% (43 of 52) of her first-service points. Fernandez follows the quarterfinal appearance in Madrid with a one-and-done trip to Rome.
Another Canadian, No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw due to gastrointestinal issues shortly before her Friday match vs. Italy’s Tyra Caterina Grant. Czech lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova replaced Mboko, beating Grant 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Round of 32.
She’ll next face No. 17 Madison Keys, who rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Peyton Stearns in an all-American battle. Keys saved nine of her 13 break points she faced, including the only one in the third set, which she won in just 33 minutes.
“I think I like clay more than grass now,” the 31-year-old Keys told the Tennis Channel. “That’s insane, but I think I do. Maybe it’s my older age catching up to me and wanting the court to be a little slower.”
In the final match of the day, No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 in 75 minutes.
Plenty of other seeded competitors did not advance so easily, if at all. No. 11 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic fell to Austria’s Anastasia Potapova (6-3, 6-2), who carried over her momentum from a semifinal appearance in Madrid. No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia came up just short in a marathon, falling 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 to Germany’s Laura Siegemund in two hours and 48 minutes.
No. 28 Emma Navarro lost 6-3, 6-3 to Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, No. 33 Romanian Jaqueline Cristian lost 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 6-4 to Czech Karolina Pliskova in a match which lasted over three hours and No. 31 Xinyu Wang fell 6-4, 6-3 to Alexandra Eala of The Philippines.
No. 4 Iga Swiatek of Poland outlasted Caty McNally for a 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory, and No. 15 Naomi Osaka of Japan had a similar second-round victory, surviving Germany’s Eva Lys for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 triumph.
No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Kazakhstan had less trouble, finishing off a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Italy’s Noemi Basiletti in 75 minutes.
No. 19 Diana Shnaider and No. 20 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia as well as No. 32 Hailey Baptiste also won their opening matches on Friday. Shnaider rallied for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Australia’s Talia Gibson, Samsonova swept Ann Li 6-4, 6-3 and Baptiste escaped with a 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4 win over Switzerland’s Simona Waltert.
–Field Level Media
