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Iga Suatec reached the last 32 of the Italian Open with a 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 win over unseeded American Katy McNally in a decisive third set.
Ahead 6-1 3-1, three-time Rome champion Suitec appeared to cruise through his opener, but he squandered three break points for a 4-1 lead with cheap unforced errors and the match turned into a battle from that point.
“Definitely, not an easy first match,” Suatek said afterwards. “The conditions were pretty heavy. The ball was flying slow. So we had a lot of long rallies, a lot of moments where you can create a lot on the court.”
McNally – the only player to win a set from Swiatek at Wimbledon last year – has never beaten the Polish star at the pro level, but he had a memorable comeback win against Swiatek on clay at the 2018 Roland Garros junior event.
As McNally began to impose his touch on Friday’s match, he threatened a similar turnaround.
Swatek served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set and reached 30-30 both times, only to be broken on backhands that sailed well above the baseline on each occasion, only for errors.
“Honestly, I want to watch this game and see if I did anything wrong,” Suatek said when asked about his efforts to win.
“I’m not even sure what I did. I don’t remember exactly what happened in that match. But I’ll watch the match. I’ll watch it and I’ll watch.”
Suatec will next face either Emma Navarro or Elisabetta Cocciaretto for a place in the last 16 in Rome.
In the third set, it almost unraveled again for Suatek. He broke McNally for 3-1, but missed a chance to extend the lead to 4-1 with a double fault, then broke straight with a string of errors.
But this time, Swatek got his attention back. As McNally held on for a point to tie it 4-4, Swiatek swatted away a comeback to deny him. Two dial-in clean winners followed, and then a break for 5-3. There would be no repeat of his second-set woes.
“I was really happy in the first set, then I made some mistakes,” said Swatek. “Also Katy, I felt like she was playing another ball, really grinding on defense. I just had to be patient.
“I’m happy that at the end of the match I was strong and used the right ball to attack, but was patient enough to stay in the rally.”
Switek will next face either No. 28 seed Emma Navarro or home hope Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
The new head coach of Swatek shed tears of Achilles
It was supposed to be a fun game between Suetek and his new coach on a special court in Rome to help promote the Italian Open.
It ended with a torn Achilles tendon for Francisco Roig, who was recently recruited by six-time Grand Slam champion Swatek.
“He did a split move and tore his Achilles. It happened on Saturday. He already had surgery in Warsaw on Tuesday. We took care of him,” Swatek said after the three-set win over McNally.
Roig, who previously coached Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu, was hired by Suetek after parting ways with Wim Fiset.
Osaka fights against Lees to progress to Rome
15th seed Naomi Osaka had to work hard in her Rome opener, but eventually found a way to hold off a resilient Eva Lys in three sets 6-4 4-6 6-3 in two hours and eight minutes of play.
The Japanese star got off to a great start, earning an early break and leading 5-2, but then failed to convert a set point on Lies’ serve in the eighth game and could not serve for the opener in the ninth game.
However, the four-time Grand Slam champion did not let the German fully back into the set after breaking the world number 80 in the 10th game.
After winning the first set, Osaka took the opening two games of the second set, but then lost the next four games. And while the former world No. 1 managed to level the set in four games, Lys earned another break for a 5-4 lead before closing out the second set on her serve in the next game.
There was no shortage of drama in the third set either – after breaking twice, Osaka broke Lees again to open a 5-3 lead in the eighth game. Serving for the match, the four-time Grand Slam champion managed to seal the victory and avoid further drama.
Osaka will face No. 19 seed Diana Schneider in the third round in Rome.
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