Rome Previews & Picks: Sabalenka vs. Kenin, Fils vs. Tsitsipas, Rybakina vs. Andreesu

Before each day's play at the Foro Italico, we'll preview three must-see matches.

Published May 11, 2025

Aryna Sabalenka vs. Sofia Kenin

This match comes with a strong sense of déja vu. In 2023, Sabalenka won Madrid and arrived in Rome as the WTA’s player of the moment. Then she faced Kenin in the second round, and promptly went down to defeat in straight sets. That day, she looked less than fully ready to compete, and Kenin was steady enough to make her pay for it.

Two years later, Sabalenka again comes to Rome with a Madrid title in her pocket, as well as the No. 1 ranking. This time, she looked fully prepared for her opening match, which she won 6-2, 6-2 over Anastasia Potapova. After Kenin’s ambush of 2023, Sabalenka should be prepared for the American this time as well.

Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 3-1, but none of her wins came on clay. Kenin is also a better player than she wa at this time two years ago; she’s up to No. 31, and is coming off a runner-up run on green clay in Charleston. All of which will make this an interesting test of how far Sabalenka has come a a player and a professional since 2023. Winner: Sabalenka

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Arthur Fils sees the Top 10 in his future

Arthur Fils vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas

The Frenchman and the Greek may be two ships passing in the rankings night. Fils is at a career-high No. 14; that’s five spots ahead of Tsitsipas, who not long ago was a perennial Top Tenner and Grand Slam contender.

Has the 20-year-old Fils passed the 26-year-old Tsitsipas for good? He already has a 2-0 record against him in completed matches, and his confidence has risen during this clay season. Tsitsipas, meanwhile, took a step back when he lost in the quarters in Monte Carlo, after winning the title there three of the past four years.

Fils has the pace from both sides to take advantage of Tsitsipas’s weaker one-handed backhand, and he’s a match for him when it comes to all-court athleticism. But all may not be lost for Tsitsipas just yet. His 2025 record is the same as Fils’s (17-9); he has been a finalist in Rome; and his two losses to Fils came on indoor hard courts, not clay. This is still his best surface. Fils is trying to make it his before Roland Garros. Winner: Tsitsipas

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By defeating Vekic, Andreescu won back-to-back matches at a WTA 1000 for the first time since 2023 (Miami Open, 4R).

Elena Rybakina vs. Bianca Andreescu

You remember Bianca, right? US Open champion, conqueror of Serena Williams, Top 5 player, pride of Canada, “She the North”? It all seems so long, and so many injuries, ago.

Now Andreescu has returned from her latest physical issue—an appendectomy that forced her to delay the start of her 2025 season. She’s just 3-3 on the year, and is ranked 121st, but she does have a couple of decent wins already, over McCartney Kessler in Madrid and Donna Vekic in Rome. More important for the long run, she’s still just 24.

For the second straight week, she has run into Rybakina. The one-time Wimbledon champ has mostly been a non-factor this season, but she did win this tournament in 2023, and she just beat Andreescu 6-3, 6-2 in Madrid. Let’s see how far Andreescu has come, and how far she still has to go, before the Slams begin. Winner: Rybakina

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