PREVIEW | WTA Rome Open 2025 - Day 4 including Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva

Onto Day Four of the WTA Rome Open and most of the top WTA names are in action today apart from Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula who played on Thursday. But Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva among others headline this preview of Friday 9 May.

As well as those names, Emma Raducanu, Zheng Qinwen and Emma Navarro are all in action so it is a stacked day throughout the Foro Italico.

The two ties on Campo Centrale in the WTA draw see Aryna Sabalenka face off against Anastasia Potapova. A tie with some recent history albeit more as they didn't play.

Sabalenka was due to take on the Russian during the Stuttgart Open which she lost in the final but Potapova withdrew due to injury. This meant that bizarrely Sabalenka didn't play until the Quarter-Finals on the Saturday.

She went on to lose on the Monday to Jelena Ostapenko but finally they meet again on Friday. Also one to watch is Coco Gauff facing Victoria Mboko.

Gauff was exceptional in Madrid thrashing Iga Swiatek before coming unstuck in the final against Sabalenka. But the player she faces next is a top rising starlet. She has dominated the ITF tour and is certainly one for the future. So posing her tools against Gauff will be an intriguing one. That is scheduled late on at around 7pm local time.

Elsewhere on Pietrangeli, Victoria Azarenka faces Magdalena Frech but the leading WTA tie sees Elena Rybakina face off against Eva Lys.

Lys got glowing reviews for an all round superb display thrashing Moyuka Uchijima but Rybakina despite not being the top name she was is a different kettle of fish. Rybakina will hope finally this week to turn it on and with Swiatek in some semblance of turmoil, it could be time for her to reemerge.

But the popular German star will have different ideas of her own in a tie to watch. Grand Stand is perhaps most stacked of the day.

Zheng Qinwen in similar fashion to Elena Rybakina hasn't yet found the key. The eighth seed was one of the best players in the world last year but a loss to Potapova in Madrid confirmed that there are still issues to be ironed out. She faces Olga Danilovic who is one of the best rising stars on the tour and has really emerged over the last 6-8 months and so could be one for upset alert.

Mirra Andreeva lost last year in the first round here so will hope it is not the same this time around as she faces Emiliana Arango. Albeit it is less of a tricky test than Paula Badosa who she lost to in 2024. So one she should be expected to surge through.

Emma Navarro ends that Grand Stand line-up facing Kamilla Rakhimova who was a late replacement for Marketa Vondrousova who like Karolina Muchova and even Barbora Krejcikova withdrew injured.

As said there are stories all over and Emma Raducanu again will face Ekaterina Alexandrova. A tie it feels like we see most weeks but in reality we don't.

It is 1-1 with Alexandrova turning the tables in Doha after an Australian Open loss. The Russian mainly excels on indoor clay so it could be one for Raducanu.

Albeit Alexandrova has more experience and results overall on the surface so likely will be favourite given that Raducanu had issues getting past Maya Joint earlier this week.

Onto the other ties as Amanda Anisimova aims to revive her amazing year so far again when she faces Veronika Kudermetova. Leylah Fernandez had to play a Challenger last week with her form not hitting the heights, she faces Antonia Ruzic instead of Italian 17-year-old Tyra Grant in her first tie.

Before the tie of the day perhaps on the outer courts as Bianca Andreescu faces Donna Vekic. The latter has won once against the Canadian back in 2024 at the Olympic Games also on clay 6-3, 6-4.

Vekic had the season of her life though. It has been more up and down in 2025 and Andreescu has the bit between her teeth of recent good results since her return. But she needs a big win and Vekic could provide that.

Speaking of big wins for confidence, Maria Sakkari has plenty of those this week and continues her quest to return to the higher echelons against Magda Linette. Other ties include Marta Kostyuk facing Daria Kasatkina.

While Sofia Kenin takes on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Finally Katie Volynets will take on Clara Tauson so stories throughout the Foro Italico today.