Coco Gauff faces a quick turnaround to start the WTA 1000 Italian Open this week after reaching the final at the WTA 1000 event in Madrid this past weekend.
Gauff will at least benefit from getting the easiest draw among the top players, based on the average world ranking of likely opponents.
Gauff is the No. 3 seed for the 96-player event that starts May 6 in Rome. After a first-round bye, Gauff will face either a qualifier or Italian wild card Arianna Zucchini, who has never cracked the world’s top 500 in singles.
The probable opponent in the next round would be Magda Linette, at No. 32 the worst of the possible seeded opponents. Gauff’s most likely opponent in the round of 16 would be world No. 17 Amanda Anisimova, who is slightly overseeded (at No. 15) for the Italian Open.
Who got the easiest and toughest draws for the Italian Open?
Toughest draw for a top seed: No. 8 seed Qinwen Zheng got the worst draw among the top players. Her first match will be against Olga Danilovic, who at No. 33 in the world has a better ranking than some of the seeded players in Rome, or Katerina Siniakova, who is No. 1 in the world in doubles.
Toughest draw overall: Rising star Alexandra Eala got the worst draw in Rome, based on the average world ranking of likely opponents. The 19-year-old will play should-have-been-seeded Marta Kostyuk in the first round. Kostyuk is currently No. 27 in the world but unseeded since seedings were determined before the May 5 rankings.
Oh, and Eala is in the same quarter of the draw as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Best opportunity for an unseeded player: Belinda Bencic, who has performed above her ranking for most of the year, got the best draw among the unseeded players. She’ll face a qualifier in Round 1. If she reaches the round of 64, she’ll play the aforementioned Magda Linette – the worst of the possible seeded opponents.