Tuesday’s first-round Rome recap in photos

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First-round action continued on a rainy Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Our Jimmie48 was photographing most of the matches, as well as practice sessions of players still awaiting to start their campaign in Rome.

Kristina Mladenovic of France
Kristina Mladenovic of France

Lucky loser Kristina Mladenovic knocked out tenth seed Belinda Bencic 6-3 6-4 and avenged her recent loss to the Swiss in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Kristina Mladenovic of France
Kristina Mladenovic of France

I love these flying plait photos.

Kristina Mladenovic of France & Belinda Bencic of Switzerland after their first-round match

The world No.53 Mladenovic looked stunning in the black version of the Prime Blue Dope Dye Jumpsuit and the Match Skirt from Adidas’ eco-friendly collection dominated by iridescent tones.

Nadia Podoroska of Argentina
Nadia Podoroska of Argentina

Coming back from a hip injury, Roland Garros semifinalist Nadia Podoroska overcame lucky loser Laura Siegemund 2-6 7-6(3) 6-1 to book a second-round meeting with Serena Williams.

Laura Siegemund of Germany
Laura Siegemund of Germany

Madison Keys beat fellow American Sloane Stephens 4-6 6-2 7-5 in a topsy-turvy encounter decided predominantly by unforced errors.

Sloane Stephens & Madison Keys of the United States
Sloane Stephens & Madison Keys of the United States

The 2016 Rome finalist Keys lost the first set despite an initial 3-0 lead. In the second set, she stopped Stephens from recovering again and then fought back from a 2-0 deficit in the decider to move into the second round.

Sloane Stephens of the United States
Sloane Stephens of the United States

There were moments when Stephens was on her knees.

Sloane Stephens of the United States
Sloane Stephens of the United States

Both Keys and Stephens sported the Nike Summer Victory Polo Dress this Tuesday in Rome.

Garbine Muguruza of Spain
Garbine Muguruza of Spain

Seed No.12 Garbine Muguruza needed 66 minutes to dispatch Patricia Maria Tig, who entered the draw when Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withdrew from singles with an abdominal injury.

Veronika Kudermetova of Russia
Veronika Kudermetova of Russia

In an encounter featuring two of the best-performing singles players of the 2021 season so far, Veronika Kudermetova came back from a set down to eliminate new doubles world No.1 Elise Mertens with whom she won the Istanbul doubles title last month.

Elise Mertens of Belgium
Elise Mertens of Belgium

Kudermetova’s +9 winners-to-unforced-errors differential was far better than Mertens’ -9, which included nine double faults.

Caroline Garcia of France
Caroline Garcia of France

Caroline Garcia, who’s recently made a major career decision to stop working with her father as coach, progressed past Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6(8) 6-2.

Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy
Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy

The brand behind Cocciaretto’s tennis dress is Australian by l’Alpina. Their logo is a kangaroo.

Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy
Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy

After a rain delay, Angelique Kerber, Jelena Ostapenko and Ajla Tomljanovic wrapped up the first-round action as winners. Their victims were Alize Cornet, Johanna Konta and Marketa Vondrousova, in that order.

Angelique Kerber of Germany
Angelique Kerber of Germany
Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia
Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia
Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia
Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia

Petra Kvitova spotted our Jimmie48 from afar and waved with a smile showing through her mask.

IPetra Kvitova of the Czech Republic
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic

Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty is getting ready for her Wednesday morning opener against Yaroslava Shvedova.

Ashleigh Barty of Australia
Ashleigh Barty of Australia

Karolina Pliskova also kicks off her Rome campaign tomorrow, as she enjoyed a first-round bye.

Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic
Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic

The Czech former world No.1 is accompanied by husband Michal Hrdlicka and coach Sascha Bajin.

Michal Hrdlicka and Sascha Bajin

Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina and Iga Swiatek were also spotted practicing on Tuesday.

Simona Halep of Romania
Simona Halep of Romania
Iga Swiatek of Poland
Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine

Keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog as we continue to bring you exclusive photos from the 2021 Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

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