BNL d'Italia 2023 Women's Report

The BNL d'Italia, played in Rome, has been on the WTA calendar since 1930, and the tournament boasts many top winners, including Billie Jean King, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova. It's therefore no surprise that almost the entire world's top ten was present in Rome for the 2023 BNL d'Italia. Only Petra Kvitova was missing from this list. The Czech player was injured and therefore missed this preparatory tournament at Roland Garros. However, three-time finalist Karolina Pliskova and Elena Svitolina, who won the tournament in 2017 and 2018, did participate.

Moreover, there was a Dutch presence at this WTA 1000 tournament in the Italian capital. Arantxa Rus, currently the highest-ranked Dutch player in the world , qualified and was thus allowed to enter the main draw. She faced Italian Camila Giorgi, and despite winning the first set, she only managed to advance to one match at the BNL d'Italia 2023. Giorgi won the second and third sets 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, meaning the tournament was over for Rus after this match.

Highlights BNL d'Italia 2023

Most of the big names had bye-byes in the first round, so there were no major surprises at that stage of the tournament. The second round, which could easily be called a battlefield, was a different story. World number two Aryna Sabalenka, for example, who won the 2023 Madrid Open just one tournament earlier, couldn't continue her winning streak, losing 7-6/6-2 to Sofia Kenin. Jessica Pegula's tournament was also over. The third-seeded player lost to her compatriot Taylor Townsend (WTA-168), who was too strong in three sets. Pliskova, a former winner in Rome, lost to Anna Bondar, and Ons Jabeur – a finalist in 2022 – lost to Spain's Paula Badosa.

The third round also saw one outsider after another exit. For example, Greece's Maria Sakkari lost to Marketa Vondrousova, Barbora Krejcikova was defeated by Jelena Ostapenko, and Czech Marie Bouzkova proved too strong for Coco Gauff. The third round also marked the end for French and fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia. She lost to Colombian world number one Camila Osorio. For Šwiatek, the world number one , the tournament was still going well. The Polish player faced Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lesia Tsurenko in her first two matches, losing a combined total of only two (!) games: 6-0/6-0 and 6-2/6-0.

Zheng defeats Wang in Chinese duel

In the round of 16, Swiatek faced a bit more resistance. Her opponent, Donna Vekic, managed to take seven games, but a 6-3/6-4 scoreline ensured Swiatek reached the quarterfinals without too much trouble. The same applied to Rybakina, who defeated Vondrousova, and Badosa, who proved too strong for Karolina Muchova. Furthermore, Ostapenko, after Krejcikova, also defeated eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Veronika Kudermetova were too strong for Osioro and Bouzkova, respectively, and Qinwen Zheng emerged victorious in the Chinese clash with Xiyu Wang. Finally, Anhelina Kalinina also joined the final eight of the BNL d'Italia 2023. The Ukrainian struggled past Madison Keys after two hours of tennis.

In the quarterfinals, Światek, the odds-on favorite to win, was forced to retire. With the score tied at 1-1 in sets against Rybakina, the world number one suffered an injury and was forced to abandon her match early. Ostapenko and Kudermetova did advance to the semifinals. The former defeated Badosa, while Kudermetova proved too strong for Zheng. By far the most exciting match, however, was the clash between Kalinina and Haddad Maia. In a nearly four-hour thriller, the Ukrainian ultimately prevailed, and because she also defeated Kudermetova the following day, she qualified for the final of the BNL d'Italia 2023. She faced Rybakina, who defeated Ostapenko in the semifinals.

Finale BNL d'Italia 2023

For the 23-year-old Rybakina, reaching a major WTA final is no longer unusual, but for Kalinina, it was a first. The Ukrainian, ranked ^25th in the world, wanted to crown her incredible tournament in Rome with this final, where she defeated Keys, Haddad Maia, and Kudermetova, as well as Kenin and Anna Blinkova. However, Kalinina's fairytale came crashing down after eleven games. After the first set ended 6-4 in Rybakina's favor, the world number 25 was forced to retire due to a nasty injury, giving Rybakina the overall victory at the 2023 BNL d'Italia. It was the second tournament victory for the Kazakh player, after Indian Wells , who also won Wimbledon in 2022.