WTA Rome: Halep and Pliskova win, Bencic already eliminated
The two top seeded, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova , made it into the round of 16 at the WTA Premier 5 tournament in Rome. Belinda Benic , however, already had to pack her bags.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Sep 16, 2020, 10:36 pm
Simona Halep remains without defeat after the restart of the WTA tour. The Romanian, who had decided not to start at the US Open due to safety concerns, won her second round game in Rome against local hero Jasmine Paolini 6: 3 and 6: 4 and after five wins at the event in Prague drove her sixth success since the Corona Take a break. Halep will now meet Dayana Yastremska, who held her own against Amanda Anisimova in three sets.
With Karolina Pliskova, the defending champion is also in the round of 16 in Rome. The Czech beat compatriot Barbora Strycova 6: 3 and 6: 3 and will face Anna Blinkova in the next round. The Russian got the upper hand against Aliona Bolsova in the tie-break of the third set.
Azarenka survives first lap
One of the nominally largest competitors for Pliskova in the lower half, however, has already been eliminated. The number six of the tournament, Belinda Bencic, had no chance against Görges conqueror Danka Kovinic in the 3: 6 and 1: 6 defeat. The fourth-placed Elina Svitolina won her opening game against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6: 3 and 7: 6 (4).
In addition, the last first round game was played on Wednesday. In this US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka prevailed 7: 6 (7) and 6: 2 against Venus Williams. The Belarusian will face Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin in a highly anticipated duel on Thursday.