Rome 2026 Kicks Off: Nine Italians In Action On Day 1, The Pigato-Grant Derby
Nine Italians took to the courts at the Foro Italico for the opening day of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2026 on Wednesday, May 6: two in the men's draw and seven in the women's, including the derby between Lisa Pigato and Tyra Caterina Grant.
On Centre Court, Lucrezia Stefanini opens the schedule at 11:00 against Jeļena Ostapenko, before the debut of Matteo Arnaldi against Spaniard Jaume Munar. The Ligurian arrives in Rome in high spirits: last Sunday he won the Cagliari Challenger 175 by beating Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-4, his first title after almost three years sidelined by injuries and the search for form. In the evening, again on Centre Court, Elisabetta Cocciaretto takes on Austrian Sinja Kraus, and then it's the turn of Federico Cinà, facing Belgian Alexander Blockx, fresh off a semifinal at the Madrid Masters 1000.
On the BNP Paribas Arena, the all-Italian derby between Pigato and Grant takes the stage, both wild cards granted by the organizers, while Noemi Basiletti closes the day's program on the court against Ajla Tomljanović. On the SuperTennis Arena, the spotlight goes to Federica Urgesi, up against Swiss Viktorija Golubić, and to Nuria Brancaccio, who immediately draws a tough opponent in American Taylor Townsend.
The Italian presence is also a result of the eight wild cards distributed in the WTA draw, a tournament choice that maintains the tradition of protecting the Italian talent pool at the country's only home Masters. The real test, as always, will be seeing how many of these opportunities turn into real matches in the second round.
