Iga Swiatek is through to the last 32 of the Italian Open, winning a third-set decider against unseeded American Caty McNally 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 to progress.
At 6-1 3-1 ahead, the three-time Rome champion Swiatek appeared to be cruising through her opener, but she squandered three break points for a 4-1 lead with cheap unforced errors, and from that point on the match turned into a battle.
"For sure, not an easy first match," Swiatek said afterwards. "The conditions were kind of heavy. The ball was flying slow. So we had many long rallies, many moments where you could create a lot on the court."
McNally - the only player to win a set from Swiatek at Wimbledon last year - has never beaten the Polish star at pro level, but she did have a memorable comeback victory over Swiatek on clay in the 2018 Roland Garros junior event.
As McNally began to impose her touch on the match on Friday, she threatened a similar turnaround.
Swiatek served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set and reached 30-30 both times, only to lapse into errors, getting broken on backhands that sailed well over the baseline on each occasion.
"Honestly, I want to watch this game and see if there's something that I did wrong," Swiatek said when asked about her attempts to serve out the win.
"I'm not sure even what I did. I don't exactly remember what happened in that game. But I will watch the match. I'll watch it and I'll see."
In the third set, it nearly unraveled again for Swiatek. She broke McNally for 3-1, but missed a chance to extend the lead to 4-1 with a double fault, then handed the break straight back with a string of errors.
But this time, Swiatek regained her focus. As McNally held a point to level at 4-4, Swiatek swatted away a return to deny her. Two dialed-in clean winners followed, and then the break for 5-3. There would be no repeat of her second-set travails.
"I was really happy with the first set, then I made some mistakes," said Swaitek. "Also Caty, I felt like she was playing one more ball in, really grinding in defense. I needed to be patient.
"I'm happy at the end of the match I was solid and I used the right balls to attack, but was also patient enough to stay in the rally."
Swiatek will next face either No 28 seed Emma Navarro or home hope Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
It was supposed to be a fun game between Swiatek and her new coach on a special court in Rome to help promote the Italian Open.
It ended with a torn Achilles' tendon for Francisco Roig, who was recently hired by Swiatek, the six-time Grand Slam champion.
"He did a split step and tore his Achilles. It happened on Saturday. On Tuesday he had surgery already in Warsaw. We kind of took care of him," Swiatek said after a three-set victory over McNally.
Roig, who formerly coached Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu, was hired by Swiatek after she parted ways with Wim Fissette.
No 15 seed Naomi Osaka was made to work hard in her Rome opener, but ultimately found a way to fend off resilient Eva Lys in three sets 6-4 4-6 6-3 in two hours and eight minutes of play.
The Japanese star made a fine start, earning an early break and opening a 5-2 lead, but then failed to convert a set point on Lys' serve in the eighth game and also didn't manage to serve out for the opener in the ninth game.
However, the four-time Grand Slam champion didn't allow the German to fully get back in the set after breaking the world No 80 in the 10th game.
After winning the first set, Osaka took the opening two games of the second set, but then lost the next four games. And while the former world No 1 managed to level the set to four games all, Lys earned another break for a 5-4 lead before closing out the second set on her serve in the following game.
The third set didn't lack drama either - after twice blowing a break, Osaka broke Lys again in the eighth game to open a 5-3 lead. Serving for the match, the four-time Grand Slam champion managed to seal the win and avoid further drama.
In the Rome third round, Osaka will face No 19 seed Diana Shnaider.
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