Kvitova rallies for opening win in Rome, Swiatek advances as Riske retires

Two Grand Slam champions faced early deficits in their opening round matches on Monday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, but Petra Kvitova and Iga Swiatek moved through to the second round thanks to a contrasting series of events.

After losing the first set to Swiatek's compatriot, Polish No.2 Magda Linette in a half hour on Center Court, Kvitova found her way through a 1-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory in 95 minutes, while later in the day, Swiatek took on American Alison Riske and advanced in abridged fashion after the American was forced to retire due to injury.

Owning a 2-0 head-to-head against Linette coming into the match, having lost just eight games in four sets, Kvitova found herself a set behind after making 16 unforced errors in the first seven games. Nonetheless, the No.11 seed quickly righted her ship and won nine straight games to firmly take control of the match, and was never in much danger for the duration.

Linette's lone window on Kvitova's serve came early in the decider, where she had three break points to respond after having been broken herself for a fourth straight time, but Kvitova held firm to build a 3-0 lead. 

"The first set I started very badly. I was missing almost everything. On the court... [the ball] was bouncing everywhere as well. A little bit windy. I just had to used to probably everything," Kvitova said after the match.

"The beginning of the second set when finally I held my serve and broke her serve, I think since then it was much, much better."

Kvitova will next face former World No.2 and two-time major finalist Vera Zvonareva, who beat Christina McHale in a clash of qualifiers, 6-3, 6-0. Notably, Kvitova and Zvonareva have not played in 10 years, meeting six times in a 3-3 head-to-head from 2009-11. 

"Against Vera, it's long time really when we played each other. She's coming back," Kvitova said. "She's through the qualies as well, so definitely she can play. That's 100%. So we will see. It will be nice matchup if I'm going to play her after so many years."

Swiatek faced Riske for the second time in a two-week span, having beaten her in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open with the loss of just two games.

The American, playing just her fourth event of the season after struggles with a left foot injury, started their rematch much brighter, but after opening up a 4-1 lead, the world No. 27 succumbed to a recurrence of the injury and was forced to retire. 

Swiatek racked up 18 unforced errors over the first nine games of the match, but found more consistency in her tennis as the opening set wore on. The Polish No. 1 won four straight games and had a set point on Riske's serve in the 10th game. It was at that moment that the American injured herself, jarring her foot and pulling up during a lengthy, 10-shot rally that finished when Swiatek's drop shot attempt landed wide.

Riske soon after retired from the match after receiving medical attention at deuce, putting Swiatek through to the second round where she'll face either Madison Keys or lucky loser Sloane Stephens, who replaced Karolina Muchova.

The shortened victory is Swiatek's first in Rome, as she was beaten by Arantxa Rus in her Rome debut last fall during its rescheduled slot in the calendar before going on to win seven straight matches in Paris for her first Grand Slam title.

Also in this portion of the draw, American Amanda Anisimova earned a 7-5, 6-3 win over Wang Qiang to improve her head-to-head record against her to 3-0.

"It was a really tough match. I was expecting that going in because I've had a couple of tough matches with her. I was just trying to stay focused on my game and not rush too much, and it's good to get my first win on red clay here," Anisimova told Tennis Channel after the match.

"I like that I have more time to prepare for my shots, and I think the results that I've had [on red clay] give me that extra boost of confidence. I've gotten a lot of practice in. I lost first round in Madrid but I had a tough match with [Maria] Sakkari, so it's just something to build off of. I had a couple of days here to prepare for Rome, so I'm feeling good."

A first victory on red clay this year, and second overall, puts the former French Open semifinalist through to a second-round meeting with No.5 seed and two-time champion Elina Svitolina.

The pair have played twice previously on hard courts, splitting the meetings. Anisimova won their last encounter in Doha last February, 6-3, 6-3.