Pegula into Rome second round after Samsonova thriller
Madrid finalist Jessica Pegula enjoyed a winning start to her Italian Open campaign yesterday, squeezing past world number 25 Liudmila Samsonova 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round.
A runner-up to Ons Jabeur in the Spanish capital on Saturday, Pegula withstood 38 winners from the bighitting Samsonova to set up a last-32 showdown with in-form Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.
The 13th-seeded Pegula, who played with a heavilystrapped left thigh against Samsonova, made the quarter-finals in Rome last season and has improved her 2022 win-loss tally to 18-9.
Meanwhile, former French Open champion and number 11 seed Jelena Ostapenko was sent packing by American qualifier Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-3 in just one hour and ten minutes.
Following a strong early-season stretch that saw her make the semi-finals in St. Petersburg and Doha, and clinch the title in Dubai, Ostapenko is currently on a five-match losing streak. American world number 32 Amanda Anisimova recovered from a second-set bagel to overcome Czech qualifier Tereza Martincova 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. Anisimova, a former Roland Garros semi-finalist, will take on Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the next round, looking to make the last-16 stage in Rome for the first time.