The second week of the ongoing WTA 1000 tournament in Rome is a time for some players who got already eliminated from the event played in Foro Italico, to pick up the WTA points and match practice ahead of the upcoming Roland Garros. Paris and Florence host two WTA 125 events this week, where some notable names have already fought for the spots in the line-up of quarterfinals, which are scheduled to play tomorrow.
The main draw in Paris has included 10 players ranked in the top 100 of WTA rankings since the start. The top seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich is already out after facing an upset from Katie Volynets. The American defeated the world's number 44 in second round, winning in straight sets 6-3 6-3. Volynets will face Alize Cornet in the quarterfinal. The experienced French prevailed in two matches on the home soil, defeating Ashlyn Krueger and Su Jeon Jang without losing a set so far. It's the first winning streak of at least two matches in a row for Cornet since last year's October, when she advanced into the final of WTA 250 event in Monastir. The second quarterfinal pairing is Caty Mcnally vs Nao Hibino. The American has defeated two notable names on the road to QFs, winning over Katerina Mladenovic and Tamara Zidansek in straight sets. The Japanese has performed an upset by eliminating the tournament's third seed Alycia Parks in the opening round.
The bottom half of the draw delivers another two interesting quarters match-ups. Diane Parry is another French player after Cornet to make it through the QFs, where she meets Linda Noskova. The 18 years-old Czech has secured the advance into top 50 of the WTA rankings with the highest rank in the career so far, being placed at least 49th in the next week. The last QFs pairing is the match-up between the Russians - 2nd seed Varvara Gracheva will play against Kamilla Rakhimova. Both of them have advanced into quarters after defeating another fellowcountries. Rakimova eliminated the biggest sensation of Mutua Madrid Open - Mirra Andreeva. The 15 years-old youngster got routined by her more experienced opponent in the second round with a score 6-2 6-4.
Florence hosts another well staffed tournament with 7 players from top 100 of the rankings competing in the main draw. The top seed Anna Kalinskaya has withdrew due to an injury suffered during her latest match against Elena Rybakina in Madrid. Only 3 seeds have survived until the quarterfinals stage, but every pairing contains one representative from Italy. The highest ranked player who still stands in the field is Jasmine Paolini. The 4th seed meets Ylena In Albon in the quarters. 8th seed Lucia Bronzetti against Priscilla Hon - the Australian ranked 164th in the rankings, is second pairing from the top half of main draw.
The bottom half contains some exciting names, as experienced Sara Errani sets up the most interesting QFs match-up in Florence, playing against Eugenie Bouchard. The Canadian who tries to bounce back in the rankings and noted the good appearance in Madrid by reaching out the 2nd round starting from qualies, defeated Kaja Juvan on the road to quarters. Bouchard won 7-6(6) 6-3 against the Slovenian, who made an upset on the tournament's 2nd seed (and who has started after Kalinskaya's withdrawal) Claire Liu. Juvan has eliminated the 56th ranked American in three sets 6-0 5-7 6-4. Taylor Townsend follows the blow after super successful campaign in Rome, where she performed one of the most shocking upsets of the season in WTA, winning over the world's number 3 - Jessica Pegula. Townsend advanced into quarters after defeating Ana Konjuh who retired after a few games of the opening round, and 3rd seed Ana Bogdan. Townsend scored an impressive victory over the Romanian, winning 6-0 6-4. Matilde Paoletti will be her QFs opponent. The wild card receiver made a big upset on the 5th seed Jule Niemeier in the opening round. The Italian won 6-3 3-6 6-3 despite being rated as a pre-match underdog with an odd 6.03, performing the most underrated win of the week so far.
