Second-round action completed on Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Seeds Sofia Kenin, Kiki Bertens, Petra Martic and Anett Kontaveit didn’t make it to the third round, but one of these losses was particularly hard. Read on to find out the details and see all the photos our Jimmie48 took on another busy tennis day in Rome.
Svetlana Kuznetsova recorded another big three-set win by defeating 14th seed Anett Kontaveit 4-6 7-5 6-3 to advance to the third round where she’ll face Elina Svitolina. The Russian veteran shared some tennis/life wisdom after her match: “I think I’m done with expectations in my career. I just want to play. Expectations do nothing and bother you.”
Ninth seed Garbine Muguruza battled past Coco Gauff 7-6(3) 3-6 6-3, winning six of the last seven games after trailing 0-2 in the decider. The Spaniard’s third-round opponent will be last year’s Rome runner-up Johanna Konta, who recorded a commanding 6-0 6-4 win over Irina-Camelia Begu.
Eighth seed Petra Martic rallied from 1-5 down and saved a match point to take the second set in a tiebreak, but in the end lost to Yulia Putinseva 6-3 6-7(2) 6-4.
The highlight of the day was definitely Victoria Azarenka‘s 6-0 6-0 destruction of reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. I’m sure nobody expected such a dominant victory for Vika! The Belarusian’s third-round obstacle will be Daria Kasatkina, who beat Katerina Siniakova 6-2 6-3. For the first time in five matches will Azarenka not face an opponent who is a Grand Slam champion.
Twelfth seed Marketa Vondrousova got past qualifier Arantxa Rus in straight sets and will next play against Polona Hercog, the Slovenian who upset fifth seed Kiki Bertens 6-4 6-4.
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2020 INTERNAZIONALI BNL D’ITALIA:
- Wednesday: Halep, Pliskova, Svitolina advance to third round
- Tuesday: Kerber out, Muguruza and Gauff advance
- Monday: First-round action kicks off, US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka arrives in Rome
- Getting ready for the tournament
