Rome, May 10 (IANS) Elina Svitolina continued her impressive run at the Italian Open 2026 with a commanding straight-sets victory over Hailey Baptiste to book her place in the fourth round in Rome on Sunday.

The two-time Rome champion needed just one hour and seven minutes to secure a clinical win as she produced one of her sharpest displays of the tournament so far at the Foro Italico.

Svitolina controlled the contest from the baseline and barely allowed Baptiste any rhythm throughout the match. The Ukrainian struck 11 winners while committing only four unforced errors in a highly disciplined performance.

Her serve also proved difficult to break down, with Svitolina saving all five break points she faced and dominating behind both her first and second deliveries.

The victory also carried added significance for the seventh seed, who avenged her defeat to Baptiste earlier this season at the Miami Open 2026. Svitolina had previously beaten the American in Rome last year in a much tighter three-set battle, but this time she left little doubt as she improved her head-to-head record against Baptiste to 2-1.

Awaiting Svitolina in the Round of 16 is Czech teenager Nikola Bartunkova, whose dream run in Rome gathered momentum after a stunning upset victory over 17th seed Madison Keys.

Bartunkova battled past the American 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to become the first lucky loser to reach the women’s singles fourth round in Rome since 2013.

The Czech youngster had initially fallen in the final round of qualifying to Anastasia Potapova before receiving a late entry into the main draw following the withdrawal of 10th seed Victoria Mboko due to illness.

Since then, Bartunkova has taken full advantage of her opportunity. After overcoming Tyra Grant in the opening round, she delivered another fearless display against Keys to register the biggest win of her young career and reach the fourth round of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.

The result also underlined the rapid rise of the Czech player, who was ranked outside the top 500 just a year ago. Bartunkova has now won both of her matches against top-20 opponents, having earlier defeated Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open 2026 earlier this season.

She will next face Svitolina for the first time on the WTA Tour, with a quarter-final place in Rome at stake.

–IANS

vi/bsk/