The Saturday's on-court action in the WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL D'Italia was tormented by the continuing rainfalls, which did not help to play the matches in a normal rythm for the whole day. At the end, 6 out of 8 scheduled third round matches of the main draw's bottom half got completed. The fans can witness 10 matches tomorrow, if the weather will be more generous this time not to interrupt the plans of the tournament's hosts to complete whole the third round on Sunday.
Camila Osorio performed the biggest upset of the day, as the Colombian has eliminated the tournament's 5th seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets, 6-4 6-4. It's the most valuable Osorio's match victory so far, as she has never defeated the player being ranked as high as Garcia, which has resulted with the advance to the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career. The match was played in really tricky conditions, which did not disturb Osorio to reach out a decent level from the start. The Colombian gained the important break in 9th game of first set within the score 4-4 and made a huge hold in the following game, as she defended 3 breakpoints and clinched the set. The second one was quite an even battle, as Garcia had a chance to move up front in 5th game. Osorio took the break lead two games later and served for the match despite facing another breakpoint in 10th game.
As for now, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th seed are out of the tournament, while all the three top seeds from the bottom half got eliminated, which opens a chance for a lower ranked player to make a deep run in the last WTA 1000 tournament ahead of the French Open. Caroline Garcia will surely want to bounce back after miserable weeks behind her, to perform well in her home Grand Slam tournament. The French has shared her concerning disappointment in the post-match interview: "I sank on my own. I am making the effort, but it does not work. I would like to know why, to be able to control it. But no, it is sinking me more and more. Instead to enjoy the moment on the court, it becomes a nightmare."
Osorio will play against another South American player in the round of 16, as Beatriz Haddad Maia prevailed against Magda Linette 7-5 6-4. The match was an intense battle, as both sets lasted more than one hour each. The momentum between the end of first and the middle of second set was crucial, as the Brazilian won 6 games in a row since the score 5-5. Linette tried to fight back in second set, as she cut down the gap to just one break, but it was quite too late, as Haddad Maia served for the match with a style, winning the last game to love.
Anhelina Kalinina defeated Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-2 and advanced into round of 16, where she waits for the winner of match between Victoria Azarenka and Madison Keys, which got rescheduled for tomorrow because of the rain delay. The American did not refer to her amazing victory over Aryna Sabalenka in previous round. Kenin made 31 unforced errors in general and had no response for the good and consistent play of the Ukrainian, who has run away since the score 2-2 in first set.
Qinwen Zheng and Xiyu Wang set up the all-Chinese clash in the round of 16. The 22nd seeded Zheng has expectedly defeated Anna Bondar, winning 7-6(2) 6-4. Wang played a thrilling match against Taylor Townsend. The world's number 75 defeated the American 6-2 0-6 7-5 despite facing the matchpoint in third set. Townsend was leading in the decider since 3rd game and served for the set within a score 5-4, but did not capitalize on the matchpoint and lost this game after deuces. Wang added another break in 12th game and clinched her biggest career's success so far, advancing so deep in the WTA 1000 tournament.
Veronika Kudermetova has panned out to be better again in the match-up against her fellowcountry Anatasia Potapova. Both the players have met in the latest tournament in Madrid, where Kudermetova prevailed after 3 hours of battle. This time the match was quite shorter (2:25 hrs), but it was again the world's number 12 who prevailed in a three-setter. Kudermetova was already leading with a set and break after the opening game of second set, but Potapova fought back to force the decider. She had no chance there though, as Kudermetova dominated the third set and moved into the next round, where she waits for the winner of match between Cori Gauff and Marie Bouzkova.
