Elisabetta Cocciaretto lights up the evening in Rome: now, though, the going gets tough

Elisabetta Cocciaretto has qualified for the third round of the Internazionali d’Italia: in the second round of the women’s draw, the 25-year-old from Porto San Giorgio defeated Emma Navarro, six positions higher than her in the ranking (35 vs. 41) with a double 6-3, at the end of a match that lasted one hour and thirty-two minutes.

This is the first time that Cocciaretto has advanced to the third round in Rome: in the seven previous participations, in fact, she had never gone beyond the second round (reached in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions), while before that she had always stopped at the opening round of the main draw. Navarro, on the other hand, worsens her result in the capital last year, when she reached just the third round.

The Azzurra, lighting up the evening at the Foro Italico, brings a smile back to the Bel Paese’s women’s tennis fans, who on Friday had to deal with the eliminations of Tyra Caterina Grant, beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Czech Nikola Bartunkova, and Noemi Basiletti, who after her feat against Ajla Tomljanovic did not repeat herself against Elina Svitolina, number 10 in the world, victorious 6-1, 6-3.

At the round of 16 a challenge that is anything but easy for Elisabetta Cocciaretto lies ahead: in fact, her opponent will be Iga Swiatek, queen of Rome in 2021 in 2022 and in 2024, who last year ousted precisely the Marche woman in the second round, beating her with a clear 6-1, 6-0 before, however, succumbing, surprisingly, to the American Danielle Collins.