Ba Hongxing traveled in one round, Nini lost the farewell game, and the Russian new star sent double eggs in a row, and the odds are optimistic about Zheng Qinwen

Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans, today is Friday, May 9, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by "Home of Tennis".

Last night, Beijing time, the ATP1000 Rome Masters continued the first round of singles competition. In a head-to-head matchup, Brazilian star Fonseca, who has been a brilliant-awaited performer this season, was knocked out 6-3 7-6 by Hungarian Marosanne and suffered a first-round tour. Another Brazilian, Wilder, beat Portugal's Burges 6-1 4-6 6-4 in three sets to advance to the second round.

Fognini, who previously said that he played in Rome Masters for the last time, lost 2-6 3-6 in his debut to Englishman Fearnley. Kazakhstan's Bubrik defeated Russia's Safrin 6-3 7-6(4) to take on Singapore's Madrid Masters champion and Norway's Ruud in the second round.

Other winners to advance were Navone, Frenkie de Jong, Jarry, Ofner, Munar, Vukic, Giron, Martinez, Gigante, Agutte, Lerner-Chin and Narddi.

Women's Field: Last night, Beijing time, the WTA 1000 Rome Open began the second round of singles. Defending champion and second seed Swiatek was in red-hot form on his debut, beating home wildcard Koccharetto 6-1 6-0 to kick off his title defence. Next up, she will face American Collins, who beat Dutch qualifier Ruse 6-3 6-3. In terms of head-to-head record, Swiatek has a 7-1 lead over Collins.

Third seed Pegula of the United States defeated compatriot Kruger 6-4 6-2 to advance. Next up, she will face Belgian star Mertens. Homegrown No.6 seed and Tinker Paulini defeated New Zealander's Lulu Sun 6-4 6-3 to face Tunisia's Jabbar in the next round.

Fifth seed and American Keys got off to a flying start with a 7-6(4) 6-1 win over Frenchman Gracheva from 2-5 down and saved two set points in the first set. She will next face compatriot Stearns, who eliminated Russian rising star Karinskaya 6-2 6-3.

Another Russian star, Schneider, was in hot form, beating American Dolehide 6-0 6-0 6-0 to send two eggs in a row after Madrid. Next, she will face Romanian Christian, who eliminated Kazakhstan's Putintseva 7-6(2) 7-5.

Ukrainian cabbage Svitolina, American qualifier Baptiste, Czech rising star Bouzkova, Germany's lucky loser Sigmund, Latvian star Ostapenko and Japanese star Naomi Osaka also defeated their respective opponents and advanced to the third round. Spaniard Badosa, Czech star Kvitova and Mukhova retired due to injury.

At 7 o'clock tonight Beijing time, China's first sister Zheng Qinwen will make her debut in Rome against Serbian Danilovic. In terms of head-to-head records, Xiao Zheng leads 1-0 (won 6-4 6-2 in the United Cup last year). In the odds offered by BC, Zheng Qinwen beat Danilovich's 2.75 with 1.44, which is generally optimistic. Let's wait and see what happens tonight!

Finally, let's guess and recognize. The picture below is of a retired player on vacation by the sea. Can you recognize who she is without prompting?

In the last guess, some golfers gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the picture is Croatian star Čurić.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)