Swiatek gets back on track in Rome after losing to Gauff in Madrid

Iga Swiatek of Poland bounced back from one of the worst losses of her career with a comfortable 6-1, 6-0 rout of home player Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round of the Italian Open on Thursday.

Swiatek said she was dealing with "personal stuff" when she was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Coco Gauff of the U.S. in the Madrid Open semifinals last week.

World No. 2 Swiatek is a three-time Rome champion but has not reached a final on tour this year. She improved to 21-2 in Rome since 2021.

"I felt like the ball was kind of listening to me today and I had full control over the match, so it's always pretty comfortable to play a match like that," Swiatek said. "You just need to continue the work you've been doing and not expect that it's going to happen more often."

The Italian Open is the last big clay-court warmup before the French Open, which starts on May 25. Swiatek has won four of her five Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.

Swiatek will face Danielle Collins of the U.S. next.

In another second-round match, former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan came from behind to overcome lucky loser Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Osaka had been scheduled to play ninth-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain, but Badosa withdrew because of the back injury that has plagued her throughout 2025.

"Unless she plays another lead-up, this is the only clay-court tournament left [before Roland Garros]," Osaka said. "I was 90-percent expecting to play her. And I didn't know lucky losers could replace seeds, so I thought if she pulled out, I'd get a walkover. I learned a lot of rules about tournaments today."

Golubic caused some serious trouble for Osaka in the first two sets with her full repertoire of slices, drop shots and one-handed backhands, but the four-time Grand Slam winner managed to bounce back and win the battle in the end.

"I thought, if I could get a flight at midnight I could beat the time zone and come back with a week before the French Open," Osaka said. "It's a really terrible way of thinking and if [coach] Patrick [Mouratoglou] reads this, he's going to be pissed. But I'm glad I was able to switch my train of thought before that happened."

She will face Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the next round.