ROME, May 8, 2026, 14:14 CEST
- Iga Swiatek needed 2 hours and 43 minutes to take down Caty McNally 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in their second-round clash.
- Naomi Osaka draws Eva Lys in the round of 64 on BNP Paribas Arena.
- Victoria Mboko pulled out because of a gastrointestinal illness, opening the door for lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova to take her place.
Iga Swiatek had to dig a bit deeper in Rome on Friday, edging past Caty McNally in three sets. Naomi Osaka’s clay-court matchup with Eva Lys was still on hold, while Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, and Elina Svitolina were all set for busy starts.
Timing’s key here. Friday wraps up second-round play at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the WTA 1000 clay-court event, and the third round is set to start this weekend in a crowded 96-player draw. The tournament continues until May 17, with the women’s singles title match locked in for May 16.
Swiatek’s scoreline only scratched the surface. The fourth seed cruised through the opening set 6-1, stumbled in the second during a tiebreak, then found her footing in the third—taking seven of 15 break opportunities off McNally’s serve.
Osaka, the No. 15 seed, is set for her first-ever matchup with Lys. According to the official schedule, their match hits BNP Paribas Arena after Alex de Minaur faces Matteo Arnaldi, with a start time listed not before 1 p.m. local.
This one’s as much a measure of Osaka’s current form as it is a question of the draw. Osaka comes in at No. 16 on the WTA rankings, holding a 7-4 record this year. Lys, on the other hand, is sitting at No. 80 with just two wins and six losses in 2026.
Ilemona Onekutu at Last Word on Tennis went with Osaka in straight sets, pointing to her power and strong serving, especially after Osaka’s Madrid campaign, which wrapped up in a three-set loss to Aryna Sabalenka. The preview also mentioned Lys, who got past Katie Boulter in three sets to open but doesn’t bring much clay-court experience at this stage.
The day’s lineup offers limited flexibility. Rybakina faces Maria Sakkari, while Pegula goes up against Zeynep Sonmez. Svitolina, meanwhile, gets Italian qualifier Noemi Basiletti—so the women’s bracket has a handful of tricky matchups right out of the gate, days before the weekend.
Alexandra Eala moved into the third round, getting past Wang Xinyu, according to ABS-CBN. TennisUpToDate’s live feed put Eala in the mix with Swiatek, Rybakina, Pegula, and Svitolina as names to watch for the day.
Madison Keys faces a tough test in fellow American Peyton Stearns. Stearns leads their head-to-head 2-0, according to Last Word on Tennis, which tipped her to win this one in three sets. The draw has Stearns through to the round of 64 after a 6-4, 6-4 result over Janice Tjen.
The risk in Rome is already showing. Mboko pulled out due to illness, making her the second top-10 player to exit from the women’s draw, according to the WTA. Bartunkova, a “lucky loser” — someone who lost in qualifying but enters the main draw after a withdrawal — took her place. That sort of shuffle can bust open sections but also highlights just how thin the margin is for seeds across a long clay tournament. Women’s Tennis Association
Osaka faces a test Friday: can she carry that Madrid energy to Rome? Swiatek stays in it—another win, though nothing smooth about it. For Rybakina, Pegula, and Svitolina, there’s one task, both clear-cut and risky: don’t get tangled up in a marathon opener and join the growing list of players stalled early in Rome.
