This content was published 3 years ago. It may refer to a past edition of the Internazionali d’Italia.

Anna Blinkova and Daria Kasatkina booked their places in the main draw at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday after they recorded straight set qualifying victories over Stefanie Voegele and Gabriela Dabrowski respectively.

No.2 seed Blinkova, the 22-year-old from Russia, will be making her debut at the Foro Italico while her compatriot Kasatkina, the No.6 seed and a former Roland Garros quarter-finalist, will contest the main draw at the Italian Open for a fifth time.

Joining Blinkova and Kasatkina in the main draw is No.7 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, who produced a commanding display of tennis to defeat No.16 seed Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-1 6-1 in 62 minutes. The Romanian is no stranger to main draw tennis at the Italian Open, having reached the semi-finals here in 2016.

No.4 seed Arantxa Rus continued her impressive form, easing past Timea Babos 6-0 6-1 in 69 minutes. The 29-year-old Dutchwoman had dropped just four games in her first round qualifying match against Liudmila Samsonova the previous day.

Also securing spots in the main draw were Spain’s Aliona Bolsova, the No.14 seed, who saw off Anna Kalinskaya 6-2 6-2 on Court 1, Kaja Juvan, who ended Melania Delai, the 17-year-old wildcard from Italy’s, hopes following a 6-2 6-3 victory, and Danka Kovinic, who battled back from a set down to defeat Katarzyna Kawa 3-6 6-4 6-3.

Misaki Doi advanced through qualifying by virtue of a final round bye after top seed Bernarda Pera was moved into the main draw to replace Serena Williams who has withdrawn from the tournament due to an Achilles injury.

Matches in the main draw get underway on Monday.