Italian Open: Vondrousova takes out Sakkari in straight sets, books spot in fourth round

Czech Marketa Vondrousova reached the fourth round of the Italian Open by beating Greek Maria Sakkari, the No 9 seed, 7-5, 6-3 at the Foro Italico in Rome on Sunday.

Vondrousova, ranked No 70, will play the winner of the match between Russian Anna Kalinskaya and Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the No 7 seed, next.

The Czech will be difficult to beat in Rome this week. She is a brilliant clay-court player, having reached the final of Roland-Garros in 2019, and has hit a rich vein of form this week. Ahead of her victory, the Czech won against Estonian Kaia Kanepi (6-0, 4-6, 6-2) and Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the No 24 seed (6-0, 6-1).

Sakkari, ranked No 8, defeated Czech Barbora Strycova (6-1, 6-3) in the previous round of the Rome tournament.

Rome WTA 1000, other third-round results (Foro Italico, clay, USD 3.572.618, most recent results first):

• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Elena Rybakina
• Donna Vekic vs. Liudmila Samsonova
• Barbora Krejcikova vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Victoria Azarenka vs. Madison Keys
• Paula Badosa vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Coco Gauff vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Iga Swiatek vs. Lesia Tsurenko
• Julia Grabher vs. Daria Kasatkina: sunday
• Karolina Muchova vs. Camila Giorgi: sunday
• Qinwen Zheng (22) beat Anna Bondar (Q): 7-6 (2), 6-4
• Veronika Kudermetova (11) beat Anastasia Potapova (23): 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
• Beatriz Haddad Maia (12) beat Magda Linette (17): 7-5, 6-4
• Xiyu Wang beat Taylor Townsend (Q): 6-2, 0-6, 7-5
• Anhelina Kalinina (30) beat Sofia Kenin: 6-4, 6-2
• Camila Osorio (Q) beat Caroline Garcia (5): 6-4, 6-4