Tennis News:

Rome, Week One

Written by Edda Bevilacqua

The first week of the BNL d’Italia tennis tournament in Rome saw spectacular wins and surprising upsets. Jannik Sinner of Italy began his bid to win the title with a straight sets win over Austria’s Sebastian Ofner. If he wins Rome, he will capture the only Masters 1000 title he doesn’t yet have and will become the first Italian man to win the title since Adriano Panatta won it in 1976. Danil Medvedev of Russia also advances following the withdrawal of his opponent, Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, due to illness. Fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime lost in the second round to Argentina’s Mariano Navone. 

On the women’s side, American Coco Gauff and Austria’s Anastasia Potapova advance. Defending champion Jasmine Paolini lost in the first round to Belgium’s Elise Mertens after having match point and losing a tiebreak in the second set. Mertens went on to win in the deciding third set. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus also faced an early exit, losing to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.