A short note on the entry lists of both the Italian Open (a.k.a. Trofeo Bonfiglio) and the Città Di Santa Croce Grade 1 which, a few days following the lapse of the relevant entry deadlines (i.e. 11 April), were finally uploaded on the ITF website.
The Italian Open will start on 22 May (the qualifications will be played on the 20th and 21st): up to now the attendance is so top notch; though, the withdrawal deadline falls on 9 of May and things might still change (let’s hope they will not).
4 top 10s and 11 top 20s are signed in the boys’ entry list; the cut for the main draw is set at 70 as at 19th of April. More than this I can’t say because as you know I don’t follow boys’ tennis.
The girls’ entry list is really interesting: there are 5 top 10s, 12 top 20s and the main draw’s cut is at 62 (still as at 19th of April). Up to now, Olesya Pervushina, the defending champion, is enrolled as 1st seed: I did not expect her to play since I figured that, following last year’s great season, Olesya would have only attended the grand slam junior events. Hopefully, I will be proven to be wrong. The 2nd seed is the Australian Open champion Marta Kostyuk and the 3rd one is Kaja Juvan (a.k.a. the Beloved One). In the Italian Open the Beloved One has obtained her first great achievement, since she was the runner up of the last edition having started from the qualifications.
Other really interesting names mentioned in my previous articles and appearing in the entry list are: the Polish Iga Swiatek; the young American Whitney Oswigue, semi-finalist in the last Orange Bowl and winner of a couple of Grade 1 in the meantime, and Denisa Hindova; but, in light of her already advanced pro career, the biggest surprise and wonderful news for me was to find in the entry list the name of Bianca Andreescu, current top 200 WTA and recent winner of a 25k in S.M. Pula. Helene Pellicano, who was also mentioned in a recent article, and the fresh winner of the Grade 2 City of Florence tournament, Tatiana Pieri, are enrolled in the qualifying draw.
There are other very good players attending who, though, I never saw playing nor followed closely: the top ranked of these “unknown” (to me) girls are Amina Anshba and Claire Liu.
It was quite obvious that both Anastasia Potapova and Kaila Day would not join: considering this, in my view the most disappointing absences are: Amanda Anisimova whom, being only 15, I was hoping to see; and even more Olga Danilovic, who does not have yet a pro career as advanced as Anisimova’s. Pity.
A last curiosity would be for me to check who will partner with the Beloved One (assuming she does not withdraw in the meantime) in the doubles’ tournament. This may be Lea Boskovic, with whom she reached the finals in the last Orange Bowl; or Iga Swiatek, her partner in Wimbledon and the U.S. Open (in both cases they reached the semis). In my opinion it is more likely that Swiatek will pair with Maja Chwalinska: the two girls have won the Fed Cup and reached the Australian Open Finals together. It is less likely that the Beloved One will pair with Kristina Novak, since the latter is much lower ranked and currently is the 19th alternate.
Let’s hope that the draw remains as it is, since it makes me feel already fatter (I love being fat)… One recommendation, while waiting for the event to start: you may visit the tournament’s Facebook page, where you can find amazing pics of past legendary champions (including the pic above) and of recent ones too: https://www.facebook.com/pg/tennisclubmilanoalbertobonacossa/photos/?tab=album&album_id=482589065110342. Give it a try, it’s good fun.
A few lines also on the entry list of the Città Di Santa Croce, which will be held one week before the Italian Open. Again, the entry list is very good. As per the boys’ event, three top 10s – Yibing Wu (3), Trent Bryde (9) and Yu Hsiou Hsu (10) (they will all play also in the Italian Open) and 7 top 20s are expected to play. As per the girls, no top 10 will join, but 5 top 20s are signed in: the current first seed is Carson Branstine, the second Emily Appleton the third Xiyu Wang; quite curiously, Branstin and Xiyu Wang are not in the entry list of the Italian Open; Xin Yu Wang, instead, is.
It is possible to follow the Santa Croce tournament on http://www.tcsantacroce.com/live/. Qualification rounds will start on 13th of May.
