Rome Masters: Top seed Iga Swiatek faces tricky route to final as Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur await in draw

Published 08/05/2023 at 14:37 GMT

Iga Swiatek is bidding for a third consecutive Rome Masters title but faces a tough route to the final following Sunday's draw. The world No. 1 is guaranteed to meet a former French Open finalist in her opening match and has the likes of Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur on her side of the draw. The Rome Masters starts on Monday, May 8 with the women's singles final set for Saturday, May 20.

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Top seed Iga Swiatek could face Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters after the women’s singles draw was made on Sunday.

The event in the Italian capital is the last WTA 1000 tournament before the climax of the clay-court season at the French Open, and 18 of the world’s top 20 will compete.

World No. 1 Swiatek, who has won the last two titles in Rome, will be looking to get back to winning ways after suffering defeat to world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s Madrid Open final.

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The Pole faces a potentially tricky route to the final; one of two former Roland-Garros finalists will face her in the second round, Sara Errani or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while seventh seed Rybakina could be her quarter-final opponent.

Australian Open runner-up Rybakina could face ninth seed Maria Sakkari in the last 16, while Ons Jabeur – who withdrew from the Madrid Open through injury – could be up against former world No. 2 Paula Badosa in her opening match.

On the other side of the draw, doubles partners Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are on course to clash in the quarter-finals.

They both face big asks to get that far though, with Gauff potentially meeting Madrid semi-finalist Veronika Kudermetova in the last 16 and Pegula on course to meet No. 13 seed and 2019 Rome champion Karolina Pliskova at the same stage.

Sabalenka heads to the Eternal City on a high after her triumph in Madrid and the Australian Open champion could face the likes of Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys and Caroline Garcia on her route to the final.

There is no British representation in the main draw after Emma Raducanu was ruled out for a few months with injury.

The Rome Masters starts on May 8, with the women's singles final set for Saturday, May 20.

The French Open starts on May 28.

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