THE Internazionali D’Italia or Italy International might not feature world number one, Ash Barty or top 12 players Bianca Andreescu and Aryna Sabalenka, but there are still plenty of top 10 talents running around on the Rome clay courts. The lead-up event to Roland Garros, players such as Serena Williams and Simona Halep will be keen to perform strongly.

Last year’s Roland Garros winner Barty will not be there, but world number 14 and French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova will attend and hope to build up towards another big Grand Slam performance. Halep will enter the tournament as the top seed after foregoing the chance to play in the United States, joined by world number three Karolina Pliskova who is in poor form, winning just one of three matches since the COVID-19 pandemic postponement. Pliskova knows how to win in Rome though, defeating Johanna Konta 6-3 6-4 here in 2019.

World number four Sofia Kenin will be seeded third at the event, with Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens and Belinda Bencic – seeded fourth, fifth and sixth respectively – returning after deciding to stay in Europe the past month. Grand Slam winners Williams and Osaka, and the two European Petras in Kvitova and Martic.

Some players, such as Garbine Muguruza and Alison Riske will be keen to put their US Open campaigns behind them and return to clay. Muguruza in particular is someone more than capable of performing on clay having won the French Open back in 2016. Other French Open winners here are Halep (2018), Jelena Ostapenko (2017), Williams (2002, 2013 and 2015) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (2009).

Prior to Pliskova’s win last year, Elina Svitolina had won back-to-back titles at the Italy International, with Williams winning three of the past four prior to that, and four overall. In an example of just how durable she is, Venus Williams has been handed a wildcard and is a past winner back in 1999 when she was a teenager. Another veteran and Grand Slam winner is Victoria Azarenka who has rekindled some of her best tennis of late.

It is no surprise to see Italy having a strong presence through the tournament, with Camila Giorgi and Jasmine Paolini the top ranked hopes for the home nation. Elisabetta Cocciaretto still remains a threat, particularly on clay, while former top five player Sara Errani can never be discounted.

Tournament officials will have their work cut out for them fixturing players around their busy schedules with some only just arriving back from the United States in time to take to the court at Rome. Those who reached the semi-finals of the US Open – Williams, Azarenka, Osaka and Jennifer Brady – will all receive first round byes in a floating draw.