Two-time Rome champ Svitolina rolls on, Bartunkova breaks through

No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina delivered a dominant performance to defeat Hailey Baptiste in straight sets and advance to the fourth round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome on Sunday. She will next meet lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova, who upset No. 17 seed Madison Keys in three sets in another third-round contest.

Svitolina needs only 1 hour, 7 minutes for victory

The Ukrainian, a champion here in 2017 and 2018, was impressive throughout the straight-set win, hitting 11 winners to only four unforced errors during the match. Svitolina won 75% of points on her first serve and 76.2% on her second serve, compared to 54.5% and 41.7%, respectively, for Baptiste. Svitolina also saved all five break points against her serve while converting four of eight opportunities on the Baptiste serve.

Svitolina avenges Miami loss to take lead in head-to-head

The victory avenged Svitolina’s loss to Baptiste in the third round of this year’s Miami Open. The Ukrainian had also beaten Baptiste 12 months ago in Rome in a hard-fought three-set match in the same round. She now leads the head-to-head series 2-1 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.

Bartunkova becomes first lucky loser to reach Rome last 16 since 2013

Bartunkova upset Keys 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to become the first lucky loser to reach the Rome fourth round since 2013.

The Czech, who lost to qualifying top seed Anastasia Potapova in the final round of qualifying, entered the main draw after No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko withdrew because of illness. Bartunkova then defeated Tyra Grant in three sets in her opening match before pulling off the upset over Keys. The result marks her first fourth-round appearance at a WTA 1000 event.

Bartunkova continues rapid rise over past 12 months

The victory is the latest milestone in Bartunkova’s rise over the past year. At this time last year, she was ranked outside the top 500.

She arrived in Rome ranked No. 94 after winning two ITF titles, reaching two more finals (including one at WTA 125 level), making the semifinals at the Guadalajara Open, and reaching the third round of the Australian Open after coming through qualifying over the span of 12 months.

She is projected to break into the top 70 for the first time following her run in Rome.

Bartunkova improves to 2-0 against Top 20 players

Bartunkova improved to 2-0 against Top 20 opponents, having also defeated Belinda Bencic at this year’s Australian Open when the Swiss was ranked No. 10. She will now look to continue that form against Svitolina in what will be the pair’s first meeting on the tour.