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The leading stars of the WTA Tour have arrived in Rome for the Italian Open 2025. The clay season's second WTA 1000 tournament will take place from May 6-18. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka headlines the field, followed by defending champion Iga Swiatek, along with the likes of Coco Gauff, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula, among others.
Players will be keen to give a good account of themselves here as this will be the final tournament for a lot of them prior to the French Open. As the latest edition of the Italian Open gets underway, we turned to AI to give its verdict on who could go home with the winner's trophy this time.
Google's Gemini AI chose Sabalenka as its top pick. She won the recently concluded Madrid Open, her third title at the venue as well as her third of the season. She was the runner-up in Rome last year as well. She has reached the final in six of the eight tournaments she has contested this year, making her a top choice for another deep run.
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Defending champion Swiatek was next on the AI's list. Although she hasn't reached a final this year, she has consistently made it to the latter stages. She has a 20-2 record in Rome, with a total of three titles as well.
Gauff recently lost to Sabalenka in the Madrid final. She has previously made the last four at the Italian Open on two occasions, including last year. She lost to Swiatek each time she made the semifinals.
Another contender for the AI was Elina Svitolina, a two-time champion in Rome. She recently made the semifinals in Madrid and won the title in Rouen prior to that. Lastly, the AI also highlighted Keys, Pegula and Jasmine Paolini as potential contenders for the title.
Aryna Sabalenka bidding to capture her first Italian Open title
Aryna Sabalenka reached her first final at the Italian Open last year but was soundly beaten by Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-3. However, the Belarusian has been in fine form this year and could very well walk away with the title.
Sabalenka has reached the final of her last four tournaments. She came up short against Mirra Andreeva in the championship round of the BNP Paribas Open, despite winning the first set. She bounced back by winning the Miami Open.
The World No. 1 kicked off her clay swing at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She advanced to the summit clash for the fourth time and left empty-handed yet again, going down to Jelena Ostapenko this time. She overcame that disappointment with her triumph in Madrid. Given her form, she is the top favorite for the Italian Open crown.
