The morning session in the women's team of the WTA 1,000 in Rome gave us the debut of several of the favorites for the title in the Roman tournament, they managed to save their commitments with more or less trouble.
One of the most troublesome was the Czech Petra Kvitova, who saw how Magda Linette endorsed her 1-6 in the first set although she knew how to react in time and win the next two sets 6-0 and 6-2. Kvitova now expects a rival between Christina McHale and Vera Zvonareva.
It was easier for the current Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek, who reached the second round after Alison Riske retired due to injury when the Pole won 5-4 in the first set. Swiatek will face the winner of the match between Karolina Muchova and Madison Keys in the next round.
The finalist in the last Australian Open, JJennifer Brady also continues ahead in the WTA 1,000 in Rome after solving her debut without problems against the Chinese Shuai Zhang, whom she defeated 6-1, 6-4. Brady will now seek a postponement in the round of 16 against the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-3 and 6-1.
The Americans Amanda Anisimova and Coco Gauff also went to the second round. Anisimova beat China's Qiang Wang in two sets 7-5, 6-3 and will meet Elina Svitolina in the second round. For his part Gauff knew how to suffer to beat the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 4-6 and 6-4 after almost three hours of play. The young American tennis player will now seek a place in the round of 16 against the winner of the match between Maria Sakkari and Polona Hercog.