Shocking! Italian Open draw reveals no wild cards for Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu, Caroline Wozniacki, and Simona Halep

The main draw starts on Tuesday (May 7), while the final will be played on Saturday (May 18).

Shocking! Italian Open draw reveals no wild cards for Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu, Caroline Wozniacki, and Simona Halep

Emma Raducanu, Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki (Images via X)

The Madrid Open has ended and the tennis fraternity’s focus has shifted to the Rome Open. In the 81st edition of the WTA event, eighteen players from the top 20 are expected to participate.

The main draw starts on Tuesday (May 7), while the final will be played on Saturday (May 18) on the Foro Italico court. Unfortunately, Grand Slam singles champions Emma Raducanu, Caroline Wozniacki, and Simona Halep did not receive the wild cards to enter the main draw. 

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The 2021 US Open champion has planned to play in the WTA 500 event Internationaux de Strasbourg, which starts on May 19. Halep, on the other hand, was expected to play in the WTA 125 tournament Trophee Clarins, but she injured her knee during a practice session. The tournament will start on May 15th and Halep would hope to recover completely before it. 

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The former World No.1 made her comeback to tennis at this year’s Miami Open following her doping suspension. She also reached the final in Rome three times and won the trophy in 2020 by beating Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova.

Elena Rybakina is the defending champion in Rome 

In women’s tennis, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina will enter the Rome Open to defend her title and also will aim to lift her fourth title of the season. Last year, the World No.4 won the tournament after Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina retired during the final.

Elena Rybakina
Elena Rybakina (Image via Imago)

Iga Swiatek lifted the title in 2021 and 2022 by beating Karolina Pliskova and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur respectively. Swiatek will also be entering the tournament to win back-to-back titles on clay. 

The current World No.1 is on the opposite side of the draw to Rybakina, who could face World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. Swiatek can lock horns with World No.3 Coco Gauff could the same stage. 

Sabalenka met Rybakina in this year’s Madrid Open semifinal, defeating her to reach the final, but lost the title to Swiatek. If Swiatek wins the tournament, she will become the sixth woman in the Open Era to bag the title three times. She will join the list which has names like Chris Evert, Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martínez, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova.

In men’s tennis, it was Russia’s Daniil Medvedev who won the title with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Holger Rune last year. In 2022, Novak Djokovic was the winner. The World No.1 will be entering the tournament after missing the Barcelona and Madrid Open. 

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