Top tennis of the week: Who shone during the opening rounds of the Italian Open?

The tennis event in Rome has had its opening week. Virtually the entire world’s top players have joined the game. Check out the names of the players whose performances on the clay in Rome were definitely not a good fit.

Karolína Muchová

The former world No. 19 is trying to get back on top, and while her second-round elimination on the Madrid clay didn’t help her much, things look much better on the Rome clay. Muchova has managed to win three matches already, losing only one set. And that was to the number 18 player in the tournament, Martina Trevisan. The Czech beat the home player only at the end of the third set 7:5.

Karolína Muchová is doing very well here in Rome. She won against qualifier Kamila Rakhimova 6::4, 7::5. In the third round, the key to success against another local tennis player Giorgi was the tiebreak in the first set. The native of Olomouc won it 7:4. In the eighth round she can look forward to a duel with the Spanish Badosa. She managed to beat her at the same stage of Wimbledon last year.

Holger Rune

The world number seven has not lost a set in Rome. His opponent in the third round was Fabio Fognini, who has already won two valuable scalps here. He got past the Briton Murray and the Serbian Kecmanovic. Rune had no problems with the Italian either, getting past him after sets 6::4, 6::2. If there are no surprises, he will face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

Yannick Hanfmann

A week ago in Madrid, the tennis world was much more impressed by another German – Jan-Lennard Struff. He overshadowed the performance of his compatriot Yannick Hanfmann, who finished in the third round in the Spanish capital.

In the opening week of the event in Rome, Hanfmann shone even brighter. The thirty-one year old was the highest ranked tennis player in the rankings so far at 92nd. Here he surprised even the much higher ranked tennis players. First and foremost, the world number nine, the American Fritz. The German won in 71 minutes 6: 4, 6: 1.

He had to turn the first set around from 0:3, but then he was in control. The native of Karsluhe was not stopped even by the home team’s Marco Cecchinato. Hanfmann won this third round match in the third set 6: 3. The eighth round in the Italian capital will take the German tennis player to his highest ever ATP ranking. And it doesn’t have to stop at the eight finals.

Beatriz Haddad Maio

Last year she celebrated her 26th birthday and had a breakthrough year on the WTA circuit. She won two tournaments on grass and also made it to the final of the prestigious tennis event in Toronto. There, by the way, she beat Poland’s Swiatek. This year, for example, she played in the semi-finals in Abu Dhabi. She is still waiting for such a significant success in clay tournaments.

This year’s Rome may finally bring success for the Brazilian even on the slowest surface. She hasn’t lost a set against Romania’s Ruse, world No. 19 Linett or Colombia’s Osorio.

The left-handed player, who was, as it happens, inspired by the famous Gustavo Kuerten, is already in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. And speaking of inspiration, the famous Guga has won the French Open three times in his career. And the second Grand Slam of the season starts in less than 14 days.

Source: ATP, WTA