WTA Italian Open draw: Gauff-Raducanu clash on cards; Eala could play Rybakina; Sabalenka, Swiatek learn fate

Ewan West 04 May 2026 11:05 AM

Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek

The 2026 Italian Open women’s singles draw is out, and Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Alex Eala and Emma Raducanu could be involved in some intriguing early matchups.

Main draw WTA action in Rome will get underway on Tuesday 5 May, and it will conclude with the final on Saturday 16 May.

This will be the 83rd edition of the prestigious tournament at the Foro Italico, which is the second clay-court WTA 1000 of the season after the Madrid Open.

Jasmine Paolini is the defending champion, having beaten Coco Gauff in last year’s championship match.

The draw features 96 players, including 32 seeds, who receive an opening round bye. The top eight seeds are: Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Elina Svitolina and Mirra Andreeva.

WTA Italian Open draw

World No 1 Sabalenka will face either Barbora Krejcikova or Elsa Jacquemot in her opening match before a potential third round meeting with 26th seed Sorana Cirstea.

The Belarusian could then meet either 13th seed Linda Noskova or 18th seed Clara Tauson in the fourth round, while she is projected to meet No 6 seed Anisimova in the quarter-finals.

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Third seed Gauff will play either Yulia Putintseva or Tereza Valentova in her first match before a possible third round clash with No 27 seed Emma Raducanu.

The American could then take on 16th seed Iva Jovic in the last 16 before a potential quarter-final matchup with either No 8 seed Andreeva or No 9 seed Paolini.

Raducanu, who is playing her first event since Indian Wells, will start her campaign in the second round against Solana Sierra or a qualifier.

In the top quarter of the bottom half of the draw, fourth seed Swiatek and fifth seed Pegula are projected to face off in the quarter-finals.

Swiatek will play Caty McNally or Daria Kasatkina in her first match and could meet 28th seed Emma Navarro in the third round and 15th seed Naomi Osaka in the fourth round.

No 2 seed Rybakina will start her tournament against either Maria Sakkari or a qualifier, and she could play 31st seed Wang Xinyu, Alex Eala or Magdalena Frech in the third round. Eala and Frech will face off in the first round.

Rybakina is projected to face 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or 23rd seed Marta Kostyuk in the last 16, before a possible quarter-final clash with Svitolina.