Rain disrupted play throughout the day at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, with several matches suspended and schedules pushed back as the first round wrapped up in difficult conditions. Although, all the most-awaited matches got proceeded, as Alexandra Eala continued her remarkable WTA 1000 run with a comeback win over Magdalena Frech, Tatjana Maria demolished Magda Linette 6-0, 6-3 in a stunning upset, and Maria Sakkari needed a set to wake up before steamrolling Lilli Tagger. Tereza Valentova arrived straight from her high school graduation exams to beat Yulia Putintseva, while Eva Lys outlasted Katie Boulter in a late-afternoon match repeatedly interrupted by the weather. Thursday brings the seeds into play, headlined by Sabalenka-Krejcikova, Gauff-Valentova and a rematch of the 2019 US Open semi-final between Bencic and Andreescu.
Eala continues strong WTA 1000 run with Frech comeback
Alexandra Eala extends her impressive record at WTA 1000 events with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 win over Magdalena Frech, marking her fifth consecutive opening-match win at this level. The opening set was a storming start from Eala as she gave no chances to the Pole, facing no pressure points on own serve and relatively easily breaking the defense of her opponent. However, Frech found her footing in the second and built a 3-1 lead in the decider before Eala fought back.
The key game came at 4-4 when Frech had two break points on the Eala serve but failed to convert either with the court wide open. From there, Eala closed it out - her variety and shotmaking compensating for movement that remains a work in progress on clay. It was only her second main-draw win over a top-50 opponent on the surface, and the first since Madrid in 2024. For Frech, it extends a brutal slide - six consecutive losses since reaching the final in Merida, now two months without a win. Eala faces Xin Yu Wang in the second round.
Maria rolls past Linette in one-sided affair
Tatjana Maria produced one of the most lopsided results of the opening rounds, dismantling Magda Linette 6-0, 6-3 in a performance that left observers scratching their heads. The 38-year-old German was ruthless from the start - 80% of first serve points won, five aces, and a perfect 6/6 on break point conversion. Linette had no answer, particularly on return where she struggled to deal with Maria's serve and found herself out of position repeatedly when trying to come forward.
It was a remarkable reversal from their previous meeting in Merida, where Linette had won comfortably 7-6(3), 6-3 on hard court. Maria arrives in strong form after reaching the semi-finals in Rouen, having shaken off a slow start to the season. She now faces another veteran in Sorana Cirstea, who is playing the final season of her career and has been in excellent form.
Sakkari grinds past Tagger after shaky start
Maria Sakkari needed time to find her range against Lilli Tagger, dropping the first set 5-7 before taking complete control to win 6-3, 6-0. The 19-year-old Austrian played aggressive, eye-catching tennis for over a set, but the physical demands of staying with Sakkari eventually took their toll. The turning point came early in the second set when Sakkari began hitting noticeably deeper, pushing Tagger behind the baseline and exposing the gap in conditioning between the two.
By the third set it was a mismatch - Tagger could barely get the ball past the service line while Sakkari's intensity only grew. The final-set bagel was Tagger's latest in a pattern this season that points to fitness as the main barrier to her development, though the quality of her shotmaking - particularly her one-handed backhand - suggests plenty of upside once the physical side catches up. Sakkari, who snapped a four-match losing streak, faces Elena Rybakina next.
Valentova arrives from exam hall to beat Putintseva
Tereza Valentova's path to the Foro Italico was anything but conventional - she arrived at 9 p.m. the night before after stopping in Prague to complete her high school graduation exams. Despite the chaotic preparation, the Czech teenager looked composed in dispatching Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2, avenging her recent Madrid loss to the same opponent.
The result is no surprise when you look at Valentova's clay-court credentials. Three days earlier she had played the final of the Saint-Malo 125, she won the Grado 125 last summer, and her 14-4 record on clay over the past 52 weeks is among the best at Challenger level. The main tour has been tougher to crack - this is only her second main-draw win - but performances like this suggest the breakthrough is coming. She gets a massive test next: Coco Gauff in the second round.
Lys outlasts Boulter in rain-disrupted clash
Eva Lys picked up just her third win of the season, but she had to earn every bit of it in a chaotic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Katie Boulter that was interrupted multiple times by rain. The German played smart in the opening set, targeting Boulter's feet in rallies and forcing the Brit into uncomfortable positions - Boulter was missing long regularly and never found the rhythm that had carried her through Madrid.
Lys pushed her advantage to 3-0 with a double break in the second set, but then the match flipped completely. Boulter reeled off six straight games to level, finding her range as Lys's error count climbed. The rain delays may have worked in Lys's favour - the match was suspended at 1-1 in the third with Lys leading 3-1, and she came back out with renewed focus. Even then, closing it out was an ordeal. She served for the match at 5-2 but wasted three match points, and had to wait until 5-4 to finally convert on her fifth opportunity.
The numbers reflected the chaos - Lys defended 44 pressure points and created 38, hit 8 double faults against just one ace, yet somehow found a way. She faces Naomi Osaka in the second round.
Ostapenko blitzes Stefanini off the court
Jelena Ostapenko needed just 53 minutes to demolish wildcard Lucrezia Stefanini 6-0, 6-1 in what was barely a contest. The Latvian, unseeded at a WTA 1000 for the first time in years after dropping out of the top 40 following the loss of 500 points from last year's Stuttgart title, looked like she had a point to prove. She hammered 27 winners against just 15 unforced errors while Stefanini failed to hit a single winner across the entire match, managing only 6 unforced errors - the Italian simply could not generate anything off Ostapenko's relentless pace.
The pressure point numbers were tight - Ostapenko defended 13 and created 14 - but the conversion was devastating: she won 10 of 13 on her own serve and 12 of 14 on return, leaving Stefanini with virtually nothing to hold onto. Amanda Anisimova, who is yet to play on clay this season, awaits in the second round.
Potapova grinds through Galfi to continue clay surge
Anastasia Potapova's remarkable clay-court season continued with a hard-fought 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win over Dalma Galfi, though this one required serious digging. The Russian, who reached the semi-finals in Madrid last week as a lucky loser, had to come through qualifying again in Rome after the entry cut-off predated her Madrid breakthrough. She was broken six times and had to defend 40 pressure points - surviving just over half - while creating only 29 herself.
It was far from pretty, but Potapova found a way as she has done all spring on clay, improving her record to 9-2 in main draws on the surface this season, a run that also includes a final at WTA 500 Linz. A potential Roland Garros seeding is still in play depending on results this week. First, though, she faces Karolina Muchova - a daunting assignment given her 1-5 career record against the Czech.
Boisson's struggles continue as Siniakova advances
Katerina Siniakova dispatched Lois Boisson 6-2, 6-3 in a match that underlined just how far the Frenchwoman is from the level that carried her to a sensational Roland Garros semi-final last year. Boisson has been unable to find any rhythm in 2026, with injuries repeatedly delaying her return to competition - she is yet to win a match this season after a straight-sets loss in Madrid and now this.
Siniakova, playing despite heavy leg strapping of her own, controlled the match with steady serving and smart net play. Boisson tried to use drop shots to disrupt, but bringing the world's top doubles player forward was questionable strategy at best. There were signs that Boisson's serve and forehand are returning, but match sharpness remains a long way off. The question now is whether she can build enough form and fitness before Roland Garros to recapture anything close to last year's magic.
Seeds come to play - Thursday preview
Thursday is an opening day for seeded players who got byes in first round as always in current WTA 1000 format. The clash between current world number one and the Grand Slam champ from Wimbledon 2024 and Roland Garros 2021 will feature the evening session. Barbora Krejcikova has noted a successful comeback to competition with straight sets victory over Elsa Jaquemot, however Aryna Sabalenka will surely be a favorite, wanting to bounce back after just second defeat this season to Hailey Baptiste in Madrid.
A. Sabalenka (1) vs. B. Krejcikova match preview
Last year's Roland Garros champion will test the promising clay courts credentials of youngster Tereza Valentova in a match which can be a tricky start for Coco Gauff. Another high seeded American from top half comes back to competition after quite a rest. Amanda Anisimova plays against Jelena Ostapenko in this year's first outing on clay. Unpredictability of the Latvian is also a factor in this kind of matches, but if Ostapenko can replicate her today's performance from first round, she can be a tough opponent to defeat. It's a rematch for the Doha final played between both in 2025, which was kind of a kick-off for great rise of Anisimova in that year and maiden title on WTA 1000 level.
C. Gauff (3) vs. T. Valentova match preview
A. Anisimova (6) vs. J. Ostapenko match preview
In other featured matches of that day, Mirra Andreeva will look forward to extend her great form in this clay court season, coming fresh off her run into final of Madrid Open. The Russian is 12-2 on that surface in 2026 and plays Antonia Ruzic. The Croatian won 9 main draw matches in whole this season and despite lack of spectacular runs, the 23 years-old is consequently rising in WTA rankings, slowly knocking to the doors of top 50. Jasmine Paolini starts her title defense quest against the qualifier Leolia Jeanjean. The Italian needs to step up after slow start to the season as for her standards with just 50% matches won out of 18 in WTA competitions. Paolini fights for staying in top 10 of the ranking, however the home crowd's favorite would need to advance at least to the final to have hopes of staying in the most elite tier of the WTA list. The former US Open champion will test out Belinda Bencic in an exciting battle, as Bianca Andreescu comes to second round after defeating Sofia Kenin. The Canadian also tries to compensate her great run from last year, as she approached round of 16 in 2025. Both met during Andreescu's victorious run at Flushing Meadows, when the Canadian defeated Bencic in straight sets in semifinals, however after 7 years their careers are on quite different trajectories with Bencic being a consistent player repeatedly making deep runs in most prestigous tournaments.
M. Andreeva (8) vs. A. Ruzic match preview