Rome Italy) – Thursday in Rome will see the start of the second round of the women’s group and complement the first phase of the men’s tournament. The program features names such as Beatriz Haddad Maia, Thiago Wild, Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
Wild plays at 6am against Frenchman Gregoire Barrere, 115th in the rankings, in an unprecedented clash on the circuit. The 24-year-old from Paraná and 61st in the world has the best ranking of his career.
Also at the beginning of the round, number 1 in Brazil and 13th in the world Beatriz Haddad Maia faces Chinese Xinyu Wang, 42nd, at around 7:30 am. Bia leads the record of clashes 3-1, but Wang won the most recent duel, in Doha, in February.
Ten-time champion, Nadal debuts at 8am
Starting at 8am, it will be Rafael Nadal’s turn to take the court. Ten-time champion of the tournament, the Spaniard faces the versatile Belgian Zizou Bergs, 108th in the rankings and who came from qualifying. Nadal is coming off a good campaign in Madrid, where he won three games and stopped in the round of 16. It was his best result in almost two years, after having suffered from a hip injury in recent seasons.
Also on the main court, world number 1 and two-time champion Iga Swiatek plays at 2pm against North American Bernarda Pera. Third-placed Coco Gauff has her match scheduled for the Grand Stand Arena, against Poland’s Magdalena Frech. The second court of the complex also hosts the Japanese Naomi Osaka, former leader of the ranking.
The day will also see Brazilian debuts in doubles, with Marcelo Melo, alongside German Alexander Zverev, and Thiago Wild, with Argentine Sebastian Baez.
Check out this Thursday’s schedule in Rome
Central Court – 6am
[29]Linda Noskova (TCH) vs. [C]Lucrezia Stefanini (ITA)
Not before 8am
[Q]Zizou Bergs (BEL) vs. [RP]Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Tomas Machac (TCH) vs. Matteo Arnaldi (ITA)
Not before 2pm
[1]Iga Swiatek (POL) vs. [Q]Bernarda Pera (USA)
Not before 3:30 p.m.
Dusan Lajovic (SER) vs. Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)
Grand Stand Arena – 6am
Dominik Koepfer (ALE) vs. [C]Andrea Vavassori (ITA)
Not before 8am
Naomi Osaka (JAP) vs. [19]Marta Kostyuk (UCR)
[3]Coco Gauff (USA) vs Magdalena Frech (POL)
Daniel Altmaier (ALE) vs. Luca Nardi (ITA)
Jan-Lennard Struff (ALE) vs. Pedro Cachin (ARG)
Pietrangeli – 6am
Thiago Wild (BRA) vs. [Q]Gregoire Barrere (FRA)
[C]Stefano Napolitano (ITA) vs. [LL]JJ Wolf (USA)
Ana Bogdan (ROM) vs. [6]Marketa Vondrousova (TCH)
Jack Draper (GBR) vs. Borna Coric (CRO)
[21]Emma Navarro (USA) vs. Paula Badosa (ESP)
Court 12 – 6am
[17]Veronika Kudermetova vs. Angelique Kerber (ALE)
Shelby Rogers (USA) vs. [7]Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
Alexandre Muller (FRA) vs. Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
Camila Osorio (COL) vs. [18]Madison Keys (USA)
Court 1 – 6am
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) vs. Hamad Medjedovic (SER)
[12]Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) vs. Xinyu Wang (CHN)
Yulia Putintseva (CAZ) vs. [31]Sloane Stephens (USA)
Mackenzie McDonald (USA) vs. Aslan Karatsev
Court 2 – 6am
[10]Daria Kasatkina vs. Tatjana Maria (ALE)
[28]Sorana Cirstea (ROU) vs. [Q]Brenda Fruhvirtova (TCH)
Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) vs. Marcos Giron (USA)
Court 13 – 6am
Rinky Hijikata (AUS) vs. Jaume Munar (ESP)
Elina Avanesyan vs. [LL]Jaqueline Cristian (ROM)
Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) vs. Christopher O’Connell (AUS)
Court 4 – 6am
Diana Shnaider vs. [15]Lyudmila Samsonova
[Q]Aliaksandra Sasnovich vs. [14]Ekaterina Alexandrova
Nicolas Moreno De Alboran (USA) vs. Botic van de Zandschulp (HOL)
Court 6 – Around 9am
[4]Austin Krajicek (USA)/Neal Skupski (GBR) vs. Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Alexander Zverev (ALE)
[Alt]Sebastian Baez (ARG)/Thiago Wild (BRA) vs. Tallon Griekspoor (HOL)/Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
