Day 5 at the Italian Open rocked the Foro Italico. Between the elimination of the world No. 1 and the fall of several seeds, Rome is living up to its reputation as an unpredictable clay-court battleground.
The shock of the day came on centre court. Sorana Cirstea, 36 and in her farewell season, overturned Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the third round. After being swept in the opening set, the Romanian engineered a spectacular tactical shift, capitalizing on a faltering and physically troubled Sabalenka. It was Cirstea's first victory over a world No. 1, the crowning achievement of her career just months before retirement.
On the men's side, Jannik Sinner opened his campaign with a controlled 6-3, 6-4 win over Sebastian Ofner, tying Roger Federer's record of 29 consecutive Masters 1000 victories. A record that could become historic if the Italian continues his run in Rome.
The seeded carnage continued in the men's draw. , the fifth seed, was ousted by qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. The 34-year-old Georgian, ranked 117th, claimed his ninth career top-10 scalp. Mariano Navone also caused an upset, defeating fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in two tiebreaks (7-6(4), 7-6(5)).
In the women's draw, had to fight past Solana Sierra 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 to reach the round of 16. , the home crowd favourite, also survived in three sets. continues her resurgence with a gritty 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 second-round victory over Eva Lys.
Sunday promises more drama with the men's third round and women's fourth round on the schedule. Sinner faces Alexei Popyrin, while the surviving women's seeds will look to capitalize on the wide-open draw left by Sabalenka's departure.
