The 2024 Internazionali BNL d'Italia draw has been released, with No.1 seed Iga Swiatek on the opposite half of the draw to No.4 and defending champion Elena Rybakina.
For the second consecutive WTA 1000 event, Swiatek is projected to face No.3 Coco Gauff in the semifinals, while Rybakina is slated to face No.2 Aryna Sabalenka at the same stage. At last week's Mutua Madrid Open, Sabalenka edged Rybakina in three sets before falling to Swiatek in a 3-hour, 11-minute final thriller.
The #IBI24 @WTA draw is OUT 👇 pic.twitter.com/MkN1xgBL8c
— Internazionali BNL d'Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 6, 2024
Last year, Rybakina and Swiatek met in the quarterfinals, with Swiatek retiring at 2-2 in the third set with a right thigh injury. The pair have met twice this year; Swiatek triumphed 7-6(8), 6-2 in the Doha final, and Rybakina came out on top in the Stuttgart semifinals 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Rybakina leads the overall head-to-head 5-3.
The Top 32 seeds all receive byes in the 96-player draw. Noteworthy first-round matches include Mirra Andreeva, 17, facing former World No.2 Paula Badosa for the first time. Former World No.1s Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber are also unseeded as they continue their comebacks from maternity leave. Osaka faces Clara Burel, with the winner to meet No.19 seed Marta Kostyuk. Kerber takes on Lauren Davis, with the winner to meet No.17 seed Veronika Kudermetova.
Click here to view the full draw. Here's how the quarters of the draw break down.
First quarter
Swiatek, the champion in Rome in 2021 and 2022, will bid to become the sixth player in the Open Era to lift the trophy three times (following Chris Evert, Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martínez, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova). She will open against either Guadalajara finalist Caroline Dolehide or a qualifier.
Swiatek is slated to face No.31 seed Sloane Stephens, who won her first red clay title in Rouen two weeks ago, in the third round. In the fourth round, she is projected to meet No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who upset her at the same stage of Miami in March. Potential quarterfinal opponents include Wimbledon champion and No.6 seed Marketa Vondrousova, 2016 runner-up Madison Keys, the No.18 see, and No.12 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who took Swiatek to three sets in the Rome quarterfinals.
A first-round match to circle is Italian No.4 Martina Trevisan's matchup with Madrid quarterfinalist Yulia Putintseva, a battle that promises a passionate atmosphere. The winner will face Stephens. Former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez could meet Vondrousova in the second round if she navigates past Ana Bogdan in her opener.
First-round matches to watch: Martina Trevisan (ITA) vs. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), Lauren Davis (USA) vs. Angelique Kerber (GER), Ana Bogdan (ROU) vs. Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
Head to Head
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Second quarter
Gauff, a semifinalist here in 2021, was the only member of the Top 4 who didn't hold her seed in Madrid. The US Open champion will bid to right that in Rome, opening against fellow 2004-born American Ashlyn Krueger or Magdalena Frech. Former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova, the No.25 seed who has struggled with illness and injury this year, is her projected third-round opponent.
No.15 seed Liudmila Samsonova is slated to meet Gauff in the fourth round, though will have to navigate a fiendish section including fast-rising youngsters Andreeva and Diana Shnaider.
No.7 seed Zheng Qinwen, Gauff's projected quarterfinal opponent, is bidding to win consecutive matches for the first time since February. The Australian Open runner-up will face either Shelby Rogers or wild card Lisa Pigato in the second round and is scheduled to meet No.29 seed Linda Noskova in the third. Potential fourth-round opponents for Zheng or Noskova include Kostyuk, Osaka and No.10 seed Daria Kasatkina.
First-round matches to watch: Mirra Andreeva vs. Paula Badosa (ESP), Naomi Osaka (JPN) vs. Clara Burel (FRA)
Head to Head
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Third quarter
Rybakina, a three-time titlist this year already, will open her title defense against either Irina-Camelia Begu or a qualifier. In the fourth round, she is slated to face No.13 seed Danielle Collins in what would be a rematch of the Miami final, which Collins won 7-5, 6-3.
2019 semifinalist Maria Sakkari is the No.5 seed, and Rybakina's projected quarterfinal opponent. Sakkari will have to navigate stern opposition to get there. She could face last year's runner-up, No.30 seed Anhelina Kalinina in the third round, and her potential fourth-round opponents include Italian No.1 Jasmine Paolini, the No.11 seed, and 2013 finalist Victoria Azarenka, the No.24 seed.
Dubai champion Paolini could face off against Azarenka in the third round.
First-round matches to watch: Petra Martic (CRO) vs. Mayar Sherif (EGY), Diane Parry (FRA) vs. Anna Blinkova
Head to Head
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Fourth quarter
In contrast to her success in Madrid, Sabalenka has advanced past the third round of Rome only once -- a semifinal run in 2022. Her bid to add to that will start against either Wang Yafan or a qualifier. No.32 seed Dayana Yastremska, who leads their head-to-head 3-0, could await in the third round.
No.16 seed and two-time Rome champion Elina Svitolina is projected to face Sabalenka in the fourth round. The Ukrainian will open against the winner of an intriguing stylistic contrast between Sara Errani and Amanda Anisimova. No.8 seed Ons Jabeur, the 2022 runner-up, is scheduled to meet Sabalenka in the quarterfinals. The Tunisian will start against either Italian No.2 Lucia Bronzetti or former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
No.9 seed Jelena Ostapenko, a semifinalist in Rome last year, will open against either Anastasia Potapova or Wang Xiyu, and is projected to meet Jabeur in the fourth round.
First-round matches to watch: Sofia Kenin (USA) vs. Lucia Bronzetti (ITA), Anastasia Potapova vs. Wang Xiyu (CHN), Sara Errani (ITA) vs. Amanda Anisimova (USA)
Head to Head
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