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Two highest-ranked seeds lost their opening-round matches at the Rome Open on Thursday, in the evening. Sofia Kenin took out second seed and world no. 2 Aryna Sabalenka while Taylor Townsend wrapped up a win over third seed and world no.
3, Jessica Pegula. In a face-off of two Australian Open champions, the 2020 titlist defeated the 2023 champion, 7-6(4), 6-2 after an hour and 38 minutes of play. The opening set saw a couple of exchange of breaks but Kenin came out stronger in the second, spurred by the momentum of having won the first.
Kenin won 73% of her first-serve points to Sabalenka’s 70% and 45% of her second-serve points. She also won 69% points on return on the latter’s serve. All-in-all, this was a disappointing turnaround for Sabalenka who won the Mutua Madrid Open last week, right before going into Roland Garros.
Meanwhile, in the third round, the 134th ranked Kenin will play 30th seed Anhelina Kalinina.
Rome Open: Taylor Townsend tailors an upset
The American derby between Townsend and Pegula saw the latter pull off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win after an hour and 55 minutes of play.
In her first-round match on Wednesday, against Ysaline Bonaventure, Townsend had to mount a comeback. However, against Pegula although Townsend fell behind an early break in the opening set, she managed to secure a dominant comeback for herself and take the lead in the match.
In the deciding set, Townsend’s game was near impenetrable for Pegula to make a breakthrough. Townsend will take on Xiyu Wang for a chance to reach the third round of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career.
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia avoided a similar fate as Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula in her opening-round match-up at the Rome Open. The Frenchwoman posted a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Ana Bogdan after nearly two hours and 30 minutes.
Camila Osorio will be Garcia’s next challenge. Photo Credit: Rome Open Twitter 