2020 Rome
In pictures: The story of Rome 2020
From Victoria Azarenka's compassion for a stricken Daria Kasatkina to Simona Halep's long-awaited first title in the Foro Italico, all the best pictures from the opening days of the 2020 Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
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Former World No.10 Daria Kasatkina came through qualifying at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia for the loss of just five games in two matches over Arina Rodionova and Gabriela Dabrowski.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Playing Rome for the first time since 2016, Lyon runner-up Anna-Lena Friedsam defeated Martina Di Giuseppe in her first qualifying match but then fell to Irina-Camelia Begu.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Anna Kalinskaya upset No.5 qualifying seed Zarina Diyas in three sets, but fell to Aliona Bolsova in the final round of qualifying.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Making her Rome debut, 19-year-old Kaja Juvan upset No.3 qualifying seed Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-1 in her first match, then made the main draw with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of 17-year-old wildcard Melania Delai.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Last year's runner-up Johanna Konta sprints on the grounds during pre-tournament training.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Kicking off the main draw, Elena Rybakina meted out some Roman revenge on Ekaterina Alexandrova, who had beaten the No.10 seed twice in 2020 so far but here was on the wrong end of a one-sided 6-0, 6-4 scoreline.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Anastasija Sevastova's only two wins in 2020 coming into Rome had been high-profile three-setters over Serena Williams and Coco Gauff, and the Latvian sought a third against wildcard Jasmine Paolini.
Photo by Getty Images
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However, Paolini was in control throughout a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Sevastova to post her first win at the Foro Italico.
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Zhang Shuai takes a breather during her first-round clash with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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Pavlyuchenkova served for the match over Zhang in the second set, but eventually needed three sets to complete her first victory of the Tour resumption.
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A popcorn first round found Amanda Anisimova net a smash on her first match point against Donna Vekic, and eventually have to save triple set point in the second set before closing out the narrow win 7-6(4), 7-6(6).
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Marie Bouzkova got off to a flying start in her first appearance in Rome, defeating Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets to kick off her campaign.
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Anna Blinkova, another Rome debutante, pulled off a Swiss double, defeating Stefanie Voegele in the last round of qualifying and Jil Teichmann in the first round of the main draw.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko held her first game of the Tour resumption despite serving three double faults, but would deliver 15 in total against Magda Linette.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Hua Hin champion Linette recovered from an early break down to seal a 6-4, 6-3 first-round victory over Ostapenko.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Hsieh Su-Wei was also playing her first match of the Tour resumption, and faced US Open quarterfinalist Elise Mertens in the first round.
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No.11 seed Mertens was too solid for doubles World No.1 Hsieh and emerged a 6-3, 6-1 victor - the Belgian's first career win in Rome.
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Danka Kovinic had a quick turnaround between her Istanbul quarterfinal on Friday and first Rome match on Saturday, but having come through qualifying needed just 63 minutes to rout Julia Goerges 6-1, 6-0 in the first round.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Qualifier Aliona Bolsova saved a match point in Day 1's longest match, upsetting No.13 seed Alison Riske 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 in two hours and 52 minutes - the Spaniard's first career Top 30 win.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Dayana Yastremska had lost from match point up to Camila Giorgi twice in three previous meetings, including a month ago in Palermo, and squandered another in the second set of their opener here - but to her relief closed out the win 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4.
Photo by Getty Images
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Fresh off the US Open final, former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka was still in chipper mood as she arrived at the Foro Italico to train with coach Dorian Descloix.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Katerina Siniakova started the second day of main draw action with a 6-3, 6-1 upset of No.15 seed Angelique Kerber - the Czech's first win over Kerber in four goes, and her first Top 30 win since beating Naomi Osaka at Roland Garros 2019.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Elina Svitolina is more used to facing Simona Halep on the singles court, but the pair were pitted against each other in the first round of doubles, with Svitolina partnering Ukrainian compatriot Dayana Yastremska for the second time this year.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Halep also teamed up with a compatriot, Monica Niculescu, and the Romanians were ruthless in dispatching the Ukrainians 6-0, 6-1.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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In a first-round upset, qualifier Arantxa Rus fended off three fightbacks from a break down in the first set from Iga Swiatek, but eventually came through 7-6(5), 6-3.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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A quarterfinalist last year, Marketa Vondrousova successfully held off a surging qualifier, eking out a tight third set over Misaki Doi 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
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Early on Wednesday Elise Mertens continued her strong run of form by overcoming Magda Linette in straight sets.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Home favorite Jasmine Paolini serves against WTA World No.2 Simona Halep.
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Darren Cahill, the coach of the Romanian, watches on as his charge battled through to the last 16 in straight sets.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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US Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka limbered up for her first-round match with Venus Williams in a setting very different from Flushing Meadows.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Azarenka, the 2013 Rome runner-up, battled through two long sets with Venus Williams before advancing and completing the second-round lineup.
Photo by WTA/Jimmie48
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Venus Williams was the 1999 Rome singles champion, 21 years ago. The 40-year-old legend tussled with Azarenka for over two hours before falling in two tough sets.
Photo by WTA/Jimmie48
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No.10 seed Elena Rybakina continued to battle past challenging opposition during the week, making it into the round of 16 after beating Marie Bouzkova in two tight sets.
Photo by WTA/Jimmie48
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Dayana Yastremska notched an impressive comeback win over Amanda Anisimova in the second round. Anisimova served for the match at 6-4, 5-4, before Yastremska stormed all the way back to victory.
Photo by WTA/Jimmie48
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Karolina Pliskova kicked off her title defense in style, dispatching her fellow Czech Barbora Strycova with matching 6-3 sets to claim a third-round spot.
Photo by WTA/Jimmie48
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In Wednesday's nightcap, two-time Rome champion Elina Svitolina moved past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach the round of 16. It was Svitolina's first WTA match since she won the Monterrey title in March.
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2018 Rome semifinalist Anett Kontaveit took a set lead over two-time runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova as second-round action continued on Thursday.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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However, Kuznetsova rebounded to triumph in the latest clay epic of her storied career, defeating Kontaveit 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 45 minutes.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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A much-anticipated second-round clash found 16-year-old prodigy Coco Gauff taking on former Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza.
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Muguruza trailed Gauff in the first-set tiebreak and 0-2 in the deciding set, but asserted her champion's authority to find a higher level at key moments for the win.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Meanwhile, Yulia Putintseva followed her marathon win over Petra Martic at the US Open with an even longer one, missing a match point for a 6-3, 6-1 victory and eventually pulling through 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4 in exactly three hours.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Finding her feet on clay, last year's Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova posted back-to-back wins for the first time since January with a straight-sets defeat of Arantxa Rus.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Seventh seed Johanna Konta, whose stellar 2019 clay run was highlighted by a Rome final showing, made a lightning start to her campaign, dropping just four games to Irina-Camelia Begu.
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Polona Hercog had not beaten a Top 10 player since 2012, and had lost 31 of her 32 meetings with them - albeit seven of the last 10 in three sets - but snapped the drought with a 6-4, 6-4 upset of fifth seed Kiki Bertens.
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Victoria Azarenka, who has discussed her newfound relaxed positivity on court as a factor in her resurgence, has a zen moment during a changeover.
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On court, though, Azarenka was hungry and ruthless for every point, dominating her US Open doubles partner Sofia Kenin for a remarkable 6-0, 6-0 win.
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Australian Open winner Kenin's loss to Azarenka was just the second time in the Open Era that a reigning Grand Slam champion had been double bagelled, following Maria Sharapova's loss to Lindsay Davenport at Indian Wells 2005.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Elise Mertens had her hands full with qualifier Danka Kovinic in the third round, but rebounded from a 0-3 start to defeat the Montenegrin 6-4, 6-4.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Anna Blinkova was another qualifier bidding for her first Premier 5 quarterfinal appearance, and also started by breaking Karolina Pliskova.
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Defending champion Pliskova was nonetheless able to power into her third quarterfinal at the Foro Italico with a straight-sets defeat of Blinkova.
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A first meeting between Dayana Yastremska and top seed Simona Halep in the third round was an intriguing clash of styles.
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Halep fell behind 0-3 in the first set, but reeled Yastremska in for a quality 7-5, 6-4 win to reach her fifth Rome quarterfinal.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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A high-quality contest between Daria Kasatkina and Victoria Azarenka ended unfortunately after the Russian, who had been playing her best tennis in some time, went over on her ankle in the first-set tiebreak.
Photo by Giampiero Sposito
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Azarenka's compassion and empathy shone through as the Belarusian comforted Kasatkina, who responded that she had been inspired by Azarenka's recent resurgence.
Photo by Giampiero Sposito
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In the quarterfinals, Azarenka will face Garbiñe Muguruza, who defeated Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-1 - the pair's first straight-sets contest out of five total - to reach her sixth quarterfinal of 2020.
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A superb early-evening contest found two-time Rome finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova bidding for her sixth quarterfinal at the Foro Italico against two-time champion Elina Svitolina.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Svitolina needed all of her match sharpness to overcome the battling Kuznetsova, closing the first set on her fifth set point and the second on her fourth match point to seal a 7-6(6), 6-4 win, her fourth in five clashes with the Russian.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Friday's final third-round clash was another epic - though it didn't seem as if it would be at first, as Polona Hercog hit top form to dominate the first set 6-1 against Marketa Vondrousova.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Vondrousova responded in kind, taking the second set 6-1 and advancing to a 4-1 lead in the third, but eventually needed a tight, tense deciding tiebreak to triumph 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) over Hercog in two hours and 23 minutes.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Simona Halep is into her fifth Rome semifinal as Yulia Putintseva was forced to retire hurt.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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The calm before the storm: US Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka focuses during her meeting with Garbiñe Muguruza.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Marketa Vondrousova had her eye on the afternoon’s action before her match with Elina Svitolina.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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The Ukrainian, a two-time Rome winner, was also keeping tabs on how things on court were progressing.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Vondrousova claimed the victory when the two players were given their opportunity, racing to a straight-sets victory.
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Defending champion Karolina Pliskova survived a second-set hiccup to overcome Elise Mertens in three.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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The first semifinal was a heavyweight clash between former World No.1s and Roland Garros champions Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep, which lived up to its billing over a pulsating two hours and 17 minutes.
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It was Halep who held off a late surge from Muguruza in the third set to advance to her third final at the Foro Italico - and this time without the prospect of facing Elina Svitolina, the Romanian's conqueror in the previous two.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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An intriguing all-Czech clash in the second semifinal pitted Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova against defending champion Karolina Pliskova for the second time.
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Pliskova asserted her place in the national pecking order over Vondrousova for a 6-2, 6-4 win, dropping one less game than in their Miami meeting last year, to make her second straight Rome final.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Playing their first tournament as a team, the unseeded Anna-Lena Friedsam and Raluca Olaru were runners-up in doubles after winning consecutive super-tiebreaks over Magda Linette and Bernarda Pera, then Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, to make the final.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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But it was the reunited Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strycova who picked up where they left off, winning their ninth title together (and fourth of the year) without dropping a set to extend their 2020 record to 21-1.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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The final was sadly cut short when Karolina Pliskova, having visibly struggled through the first set, retired trailing Simona Halep 6-0, 2-1 due to a left thigh injury.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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Halep, twice a runner-up in Rome to Elina Svitolina in 2017 and 2018, was nonetheless delighted to finally get her hands on one of the few significant claycourt trophies missing from her collection.
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The result marks Halep's 22nd career title, ninth on clay and 10th at Premier 5 level or higher, while Pliskova can be proud of her third career clay final at Premier level or above.
Photo by Jimmie48/WTA
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