Keys, Osaka avoid upset bug in Rome as Muchova falls

Three top players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz were given all they could handle by inspired unseeded opposition on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia -- and while Madison Keys and Naomi Osaka each found a way through in three sets, Karolina Muchova wasn't so lucky.

Rome: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Fresh off a semifinal run at the Mutua Madrid Open as a lucky loser -- where she upset Elena Rybakina along the way -- Anastasia Potapova continued her good form with a 6-3, 6-2 upset of No. 11 seed Muchova. Meanwhile, Keys rallied from a set and a break down against compatriot Peyton Stearns to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Osaka regrouped after losing a set and a break lead against Eva Lys in her 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 triumph.

Here's how it all went down.

Whether lucky loser or qualifier, Potapova stays hot

After losing in the last round of qualifying, Potapova only found her way into the Madrid draw less than an hour after her first-round match as Keys withdrew from that event with illness. 

In Rome, her run has been characterized not by second chances, but by great escapes.

In the last round of qualifying and the first round of the main draw, she trailed by a set only to turn things around -- and she never trailed against Doha champion Muchova. A six-game swing to Potapova's side of the scoreboard -- from 4-3 to 6-3, 4-0 -- helped, as did saving seven of eight break points.

The Austrian has now won 10 of her last 12 matches, and will next face No. 20 seed Liudmila Samsonova. Samsonova, who entered Rome just 3-7 in her last 10 matches and also saw her Madrid effort cut short with illness, was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over American Ann Li.

Keys gets Roman revenge against her fellow American

Stearns entered her third career match against Keys with a 2-0 head-to-head edge. The mark which included a three-set win over Keys, then seeded No. 5, in this same round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia last year -- the first of a trio of dramatic wins she scored to storm to the semifinals.

In the match, Keys won the first set with ease before Stearns rallied and edged victory in a third-set tiebreak. In the reprise, it was 2025 Australian Open champion who wrestled victory from behind.

Keys won 10 of the last 12 games from 6-4, 4-2 down against Stearns -- a stretch that included six in a row to stamp a 3-0 lead in the decider. While Stearns was up for the fight, and won back-to-back games to get the final set back on serve, Keys connected on enough big serves and powerful returns to steer herself over the line. She won nearly three-quarters of her service points in the final set, and also broke Stearns three times in five opportunities.

After losing big lead, Osaka gets intense

Osaka's win over Lys lasted a hard-fought 2 hours and 8 minutes -- the joint second-longest match of the day session (along with Diana Shnaider's win over Talia Gibson, behind Iga Swiatek's triumph against Caty McNally). But at 6-4, 2-0, 30-0, it wasn't looking like it would go that way.

From there, Osaka suffered what she candidly said was "a huge dip" in level. That, coupled with an inspired performance from Lys, led to Osaka's 10th career main-draw win in Rome being all but assured.

Upping her intensity in the decider after getting broken in the first game proved key, she said, as did leaning into the confidence she gained from pushing World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to the brink last time out at the Mutua Madrid Open. 

Winning nearly three-quarters of the points on Lys' serve in the final set no doubt helped, too.

Osaka will next face Shnaider in what will be the first career meeting between the two players.

"I feel pretty confident in my tennis. I think there's certain things that I want to improve on, but just building, building for me," Osaka said.