Tuesday\u2019s two quarterfinals from the bottom half of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia feature potential fireworks from four smoking-hot players:<\/p>\n
We make a case for each:<\/p>\n
No. 6 Jasmine Paolini vs. No. 13 Diana Shnaider<\/strong><\/p>\n Head-to-head: Paolini, 1-0, by a 6-3, 6-4 count in the first round of last year\u2019s Australian Open.<\/p>\n The case for Paolini:\u00a0<\/strong>Italians love their tennis and that translates to enormous pressure on the local favorites. But the 29-year-old Paolini has managed those expectations beautifully. The last Italian woman to reach the quarterfinals in Rome was Paolini\u2019s doubles partner Sara Errani in 2014.<\/p>\n Paolini\u2019s been terrific in the big moments. Jelena Ostapenko had two break-point opportunities for a 5-2 lead in the first set and Paolini came back to win the match 7-5, 6-2. It was her third win this year against a former major champion.<\/p>\n Paolini is channeling the energy that has this city buzzing over the election of a new Pope and the return of Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe atmosphere was really, really, really great,\u201d Paolini said of her match against Ostapenko. \u201cWe really enjoy being in this era of the Italian tennis. We are like a team. Everybody is pushing each other. It’s great to have also Lorenzo Musetti, top 10. Matteo [Berrettini] is there. It’s great to have many matches of Italian players.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, she found a major groove, reaching the finals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. This year she started earlier, getting to the semifinals in Miami before losing to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.<\/p>\n The case for Shnaider:\u00a0<\/strong>No one has played with more efficiency here than Shnaider, who dropped only 11 games in three matches.<\/p>\n Shnaider 6-2, 6-3 defeat of No. 25 Elise Mertens was typical of her recent form. Shnaider converted half of her six break-point opportunities — and saved all five against her.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to overlook the fact that, after 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, Shnaider is the youngest player in the PIF WTA Ranking\u2019s Top 25. She turned 21 in early April and has made a habit of taking out more decorated, more experienced players.<\/p>\n Shnaider came into Rome with a 11-11 overall record and was 4-3 in three tournaments on clay. A win against Paolini would deliver her into a first semifinal since last fall in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n No. 16 Elina Svitolina vs. Peyton Stearns<\/strong><\/p>\n Head-to-head: 0-0.<\/p>\n The case for Svitolina:\u00a0<\/strong>On Monday she was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 29 Danielle Collins — the player who sent home World No. 2 Iga Swiatek in straight sets.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the 30-year-old mother has done on the dirt:\u00a0<\/p>\n Svitolina became the fourth woman to reach the quarterfinals in Madrid and Rome in the same season after turning 30, along with Serena Williams, Li Na and Maria Sharapova.<\/p>\n The case for Stearns:<\/strong>\u00a0She\u2019s been historically clutch at the end of matches here, defeating Grand Slam champions Madison Keys and Naomi Osaka in back-to-back third-set tiebreaks.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Osaka match ran 2 hours and 41 minutes, and Stearns was struggling at the end. What was her focus? \u201cTrying not to throw up in the middle of the court,\u201d she said in her on-court interview.<\/p>\n The key for Stearns will be recovery — and keeping her red-hot forehand going.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into matches like this, if you don\u2019t hit the ball, you\u2019re not going to win,\u201d she told reporters. \u201cI think mentally I was like, `You have to get every ball. If you miss, you miss, but you have to go for it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n She stroked 32 winners, six more than the big-hitting Osaka.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stearns has been working with coach Blaz Kavcic since Madrid, where she also reached the Round of 16.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tuesday\u2019s two quarterfinals from the bottom half of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia feature potential fireworks from four smoking-hot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[79,1068,661,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-96003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-text","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114496306049085030","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n