Madrid Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff could get a rematch as early as the semi-final at their next event after they both ended in the same half of the Italian Open draw.
Sabalenka and Gauff faced each other in a 10th career meeting at the WTA 1000 Madrid event last week and it was the world No 1 who came out on top as she won the final in straight sets to draw level in the head-to-head rivalry with the American.
The three-time Grand Slam winner is once again the top seed for the Rome event and she will take on either Dayana Yastremska or Anastasia Potapova in the second round while she could meet 31st seed Sofia Kenin in the third round and 14th seed Daria Kasatkina in the fourth round.
Rising star Alex Eala is also in the first section and the Filipina youngster takes on Marta Kostyuk, who reached the quarter-final in Madrid, in the first round and if she gets past the Ukrainian she could face Kasatkina.
Sabalenka is projected to meet eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-final, but the Chinese star – who takes on either Katerina Siniakova or Olga Danilovic first up – will likely have to get past 11th seed Elena Rybakina in the fourth round.
If the seedings hold, then we will get a Sabalenka-Gauff semi-final.
Fourth seed Gauff opens up against either Arianna Zucchini or a qualifier while she could meet 15th seed Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round.
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Emma Raducanu also features in the third section and the 2021 US Open winner will face a qualifier first up.
There are several big names in the qualifying draw with the likes of Maria Sakkari, Katie Volynets and Ajla Tomljanović hoping to be among the 12 players to make the main draw.
If Raducanu passes the first test then she could meet 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova for a third time this year following their meetings in Doha and the Australian Open with Anisimova likely awaiting the winner of that contest.
Gauff is projected to meet Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-final, but the teenager will most likely have to beat the likes of Linda Nosková and 10th seed Emma Navarro en route to the last eight.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek headlines the bottom half and she starts against one of Elizabetta Cocciaretto and Elina Avanesyan before a possible third-round clash with Danielle Collins and a fourth-round match against 16th seed Elina Svitolina.
A run to the quarter-final will likely result in a clash against fifth seed Madison Keys or ninth seed Paola Badosa.
Badosa, meanwhile, could face Naomi Osaka in the second round, but the former world No 1 will have to get past wildcard Sara Errani.
Jessica Pegula is the highest-ranked player in Section 6 and the third seed is expected to face 13th seed Diana Shnaider for a place in the quarter-final while the winner of that encounter could meet Italian Jasmine Paolini.
Sixth seed Paolini has 27th seed Ons Jabeur, 17th seed Jelena Ostapenko and 12th seed Karolina Muchova in her section.
Projected WTA Italian Open Quarter-Finals By Seed
[1] Sabalenka vs Zheng [8]
[4] Gauff vs Andreeva [7]
[6] Paolini vs Pegula [3]
[5] Keys vs Swiatek [2]
The post WTA Italian Open draw: Sabalenka-Gauff rematch on cards, Raducanu faces qualifier, Eala gets tough opener appeared first on Tennis365.
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