Qualifying rounds for the tennis Italian Open is underway today. However, the main draw will be without world number 2 Jannik Sinner, who is injured.
Qualifying for the Italian Open, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, got under way in Rome on Monday. However, world number two Jannik Sinner announced he would be missing the tournament due to the hip injury that forced him to pull out of last week’s event in Madrid.
“It’s a tough call for me to not play here but I have to take care of my body firstly,” the 22-year-old Italian star told a press conference on Sunday.
“It’s a tough one to swallow, but I’m happy that there are so many other Italians playing, a big amount of players and they will have a great support.
“I’ll be rooting for them from the television and I wish them all the best.
“I have to accept it even if it hurts me and many fans.
“We realised something is not totally good.
“If it is not 100% healed, I’ll stay out a little longer.
“Caring for the body is much more important than everything else.
“I’ll just try to get back to 100 per cent as soon as possible, hopefully trying to play (at the French Open) in Paris and then Wimbledon and all the rest.
“We’ll take our time, there’s no rush and hopefully I can get back very, very soon.” The Italian star has won three titles in 2024, including the Australian Open, his first grand slam.
Jasmine Paolini at career-high ranking – women’s draw
The women’s game is seeing a resurgence with Jasmine Paolini now ranked no. 12 in the world.
At this week’s Italian Open, Jasmine is seeded 11, which places her in Rybakina’s quarter of the draw. Jasmine has a bye in the first round, and will face the winner of the match between Petra Martic (Croatia) and Maya Sherif (Egypt), ranked 81 and 80, respectively.
Other Italians in the women’s draw are Martina Trevisan, n.87 in the world, making her debut against the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, ranked 41. Their head-to-head record is tied, at one match all.
An Italian derby calls between Vittoria Paganetti , n.818, who secured the wild card through the pre-qualifications, and Lucrezia Stefanini , n.179 WTA. That means at least one other Italian will join Paolini in the second round.
Other matches are:
- Lisa Pigato , n.318 vs American Shelby Rogers, n.398 WTA,
- Federica Di Sarra, n.530 (wild card) vs qualifier
- Elisabetta Cocciaretto, n.56 vs qualifier
- Nuria Brancaccio , n.292 (wild card) vs , Czech Katerina Siniakova, n.36
- Lucia Bronzetti , n.48 vs American Sofia Kenin, n.58
- Giorgia Pedone , n.270 (wild card) vs qualifier,
- Sara Errani, n.93 vs American Amanda Anisimova, n.237
Berrettini returns to Rome action
Three years after his last visit, Matteo Berrettini will once again be at the start in the main draw at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
After more than six months out due to the right ankle injury suffered at the 2023 US Open, Matteo – who admitted that he also had to deal with depression – returned to the tour in mid-March at the Challenger 175 in Phoenix. He reached the finals, but lost to the Portuguese Borges.
Then in Miami, he was beaten by the Scot Andy Murray, with a scare due to an illness during the match. But in Marrakech, just the third tournament played, he won the eighth trophy won in his career (out of 13 finals played), the first after almost two years (Queen’s 2022). Matteo also made it back into the top 100.
Men’s Draw
Eleven Italians are directly in the main draw. The first round sees two Italian face-offs: Matteo Gigante (n.139) will face Giulio Zeppieri (n.144) for the first time.
Matteo Berrettini (n.95) will face Stefano Napolitano (n.125) who received the wild card initially assigned to the 2021 Wimbledon finalist. However, Berrettini then entered the draw directly courtesy of his ranking after Jiri Lehecka’s withdrawal. It will be their fourth direct match, the first since the Bergamo Challenger final won by Matteo Berrettini.
Luciano Darderi, who celebrated his best ranking at number 54, and the Canadian left-handed Denis Shapovalov (n.126) who beat him this year in Miami is an interesting matchup.
Fabio Fognini (n.92) and the British Daniel Evans (n.67) also promises to be a spectacle, as they meet for the second time: Evans won the first in Dubai in 2020.
It’s not an easy debut for Matteo Arnaldi (n.37) against the Czech Tomas Machac (n.45) who beat him this year in Miami.
Luca Nardi (n.81) will be facing German Daniel Altmaier (n.78) for the first time. NAother Italy v Germany clash is wild card Andrea Vavassori (n.168) against Donink Koepfer (n.52).
Lorenzo Sonego (n.47) faces Dusan Lajovic (n.64) for the fifth time. The Turin native, who has won three of the previous four, is taking part in his ninth Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Lorenzo Musetti, seeded 26, has a bye into the second round. Flavio Cobolli (n. 57) will meet a qualifier in the first round.
