Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal fought back from a set down to reach the second round of the Italian Open in Rome, while Cameron Norrie made the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’ despite losing in the final round of qualifying.
British No 3 Kartal beat Australian Kimberly Birrell 4-6 6-3 6-4 in their first round clash, booking a meeting with world No 30 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic next.
The 23-year-old Kartal, currently 56th in the world rankings, won her only WTA tour title at the Jasmin Open in Tunisia last year.
As the women’s main-draw action kicked off in Rome on Tuesday, two-time former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova claimed her first win after 15 months away for the birth of her first child.
Two-time former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova claimed her first win after 15 months away for the birth of her first child
The Czech returned in late February after her son Petr was born last summer but she had lost all four matches prior to her 7-5 6-1 success against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.
Kvitova admitted afterwards she had been close to quitting tennis: “I was 95 per cent that I would never come back. I had enough of tennis at that time.
“I was like, ‘I can’t do it any more’ – so we decided to try for a baby,” she told the WTA website.
Kvitova will next play world No 36 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the second round at Foro Italico.
Elswhere, there were opening wins for Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Marie Bouzkova, Lucia Bronzetti, Jaqueline Cristian, Suzan Lamens, Rebecca Sramkova, Peyton Stearns and Lulu Sun.
Cameron Norrrie makes it to the men’s main draw in Rome as a lucky loser after he was beaten in the final round of qualifying
British men’s No 3 Norrie was fortunate to make the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’ – playing Australian Christopher O’Connell on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Tennis – despite suffering a 6-1 4-6 6-3 defeat to Dusan Lajovic in the final round of qualifying.
Norrie struggled during a one-sided opening set, before rallying to take the second but then lost out to the Serbian in the decider.
But he earned a reprieve and a second chance at success in Rome, as he was named alongside Pablo Carreno Busta and Jesper de Jong as one of three lucky losers from qualifying through to the first round.
Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as the US Open in New York, live on Sky Sports in 2025 or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
