Svitolina is a two-time champion in Rome.
After a patchy Round-2 performance on Thursday, No. 16 seed Elina Svitolina returns for her 2025 Italian Open Round of 32 against Hailey Baptiste of the USA. Svitolina took to the Super Tennis Arena and produced a 6-4 7-6(2) win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. On the other hand, Baptiste beat Anna Blinkova and 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova en route to Round-3.
Svitolina has a 10-1 record on clay this year, and enters this clash with over 84% winning ratio on serve. The Ukrainian won the title in Rouen before getting knocked out of the Madrid Open by Aryna Sabalenka. Meanwhile, her 23-year-old opponent started the year with a quarterfinal showing in Auckland – her best performance in 2025. Baptiste has won over 76% service games on clay.
The winner of this match will face either Iga Swiatek or Danielle Collins in the Round of 16.
Elina Svitolina and Hailey Baptiste are yet to face each other on the WTA circuit. They currently hold a 0-0 head to head record on tour. Svitolina is ranked much higher than Baptiste, meaning that she normally gets more favourable draws. She is expected to comfortably progress into the next round after Saturday’s clash – keep reading to find out why in our prediction.
| Elina Svitolina | Category | Hailey Baptiste |
| 0 | Grand Slams | 0 |
| 18 | WTA Singles Titles | 0 |
| 2 | WTA Doubles Titles | 1 |
| 4 | WTA-1000 Titles | 0 |
| Bronze (Tokyo 2020) | Olympics Best Performance | – |
| No. 14 | Current World Ranking | No. 90 |
In control 🎮@ElinaSvitolina shines in Rome after defeating Bouzas Manerio in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(2). #IBI25 pic.twitter.com/hnB231vD36
— wta (@WTA) May 8, 2025
Elina Svitolina is the more experienced of the two players on this surface by a distance. Having won two titles in Rome in the past, she will study the Baptiste game and strike predominantly to her backhand wing. The American takes a defensive approach on her backhand, and hits either double-handed pushes or slices. However, her strong serving performance against Samsonova will make Svitolina adopt a more deep return position. Considering Baptiste’s exploitable court coverage on clay, the 30-year-old is the firm favourite.
Prediction: Elina Svitolina in straight sets.
Elina Svitolina is a strong favourite with regards to the winning market. The most likely outcome is a two sets to love win.
Elina Svitolina Win: 1/5
Hailey Baptiste Win: 4/1
(According to OddsChecker)
A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.
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