THE WTA Tour’s Italian Open – also known as the Internazionali BNL d’Italia – is set to be an interesting one, with plenty of fantastic matchups set to come. With a flurry of recent victors in quality form at the moment, just about any of the following players could make their mark on the tournament and jump up a few ranks in the meantime.

FAVOURITE

Petra Kvitova (CZE)

With consistency and drive to boot, there is no question that Kvitova will be up there in the running for another 2020 title on the trot, but while Kvitova has plenty of silverware on the shelf already, a trophy at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia has evaded her thus far. That being said, at the rate she is going, Kvitova is well and truly the favourite here given her recent form and despite some tough prior victors here who are right on her tail.

CONTENDERS

Elina Svitolina (UKR)

Off the back of two straight finals and a pretty solid winning streak, Svitolina is well and truly in with a chance for the Italian Open title. With back-to-back wins here in 2017-18, Svitolina is well within her right to come here with plenty of confidence and use that to her advantage to contest each and every match-up she comes into. With the stellar form she has shown recently, do not be surprised if she makes it far once more.

Simona Halep (ROU)

The Romanian third seed is a top talent and looking at the draw she has here at Rome, she is well and truly in with a chance to go far just based on the inconsistency of her potential matchups. Halep has not been playing to her full potential in recent weeks but still is highly threatening even when she is off her game, and given she will skip the first round thanks to her seeding, she should not really encounter too much trouble until the semi-finals.

Ash Barty (AUS)

She may have been knocked out in the Round of 16 at the Madrid Open fantasy, but Barty is still world number one and is sure to bring it here in Italy. A player who should never be underestimated, Barty’s recent inconsistency will surely have lit a fire in the belly and given she, like Halep and Svitolina, will have a bye in the first round, Barty will want to scope out the competition and make use of it looking to the future of the tournament. 

ROUGHIE

Sloane Stephens (USA)

Stephens may be a qualifier but over the past few tournaments she has well and truly proved that she has what it takes to not only challenge her opposition but also cut down some impressive talents along the way. With plenty of intent and drive to go further, the American will want to latch back onto the momentum and go one better here with some tough competition ahead of her, with the likes of Czech duo Karolina Pliskova and Kvitova in her path.

DARK HORSE

Veronika Kudermetova (RUS)

With some pretty good form as of recently, Kudermetova may have exited the Madrid Open fantasy during the first round but has plenty of potential to shake things up. She could be in with a chance given her ability to come into a match on the back foot and turn the tables to her favour, but it is certainly worth remembering she has the likes of Serena Williams in her half of the draw alongside other quality opposition likely to take on some top talent and quality seeds if she makes it through the first few rounds.