It will be the second consecutive Hologic WTA Tour 1000 event on the calendar, with main-draw action kicking off Monday.
Potential Round of 16 by seeding:
[1] Iga Swiatek vs. [16] Victoria Azarenka
[10] Emma Raducanu vs. [5] Anett Kontaveit
[3] Aryna Sabalenka vs. [13] Jessica Pegula
[12] Belinda Bencic vs. [7] Danielle Collins
[8] Garbiñe Muguruza vs. [9] Ons Jabeur
[15] Coco Gauff vs. [4] Maria Sakkari
[6] Karolina Pliskova vs. [11] Jelena Ostapenko
[14] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. [2] Paula Badosa
Defending champion Swiatek, like all of the Top 8 seeds, has an opening-round bye. In the second round, she will face the winner of an all-American match between Shelby Rogers and Alison Riske. Swiatek could face 2013 Rome runner-up Victoria Azarenka in the Round of 16.
Swiatek did not play the first WTA 1000 clay-court event of the season, withdrawing from this week's Mutua Madrid Open with a shoulder injury. But the Polish star is still undefeated at WTA 1000 events in 2022, winning titles in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami during her ascent to No.1.
The bottom portion of the first quarter is loaded with intriguing matchups. Two US Open champions will square off in the first round, as reigning US Open titlist Emma Raducanu will face 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in their first meeting.
Whoever prevails will take on the winner of the match between Sara Sorribes Tormo and another former US Open champion, Naomi Osaka. That opener is a rematch from Madrid, where Sorribes Tormo defeated Osaka en route to the quarterfinals.
The player who comes out of this section could meet No.5 seed Anett Kontaveit in the Round of 16.
No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka is scheduled to face Madrid finalist Jessica Pegula in the Round of 16, if seedings hold. Pegula will face big-hitting Liudmila Samsonova in the first round.
No.7 seed Danielle Collins and No.12 seed Belinda Bencic lurk in the bottom section of this quarter, as does Madrid quarterfinalist Amanda Anisimova.
2020 Rome champion Simona Halep, who has won nine singles titles on clay, is also in this portion. Halep will face Alizé Cornet in the first round in a 2022 Australian Open rematch.
Cornet knocked out Halep in Melbourne this year to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. The winner of this match will meet Collins in the second round.
No.4 seed Maria Sakkari and No.8 seed Garbiñe Muguruza are the highest seeds in the third quarter. Muguruza could potentially play No.9 seed and Madrid finalist Ons Jabeur in the Round of 16.
Sakkari has a tricky second-round match lined up against either former US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Ekaterina Alexandrova, who reached the Madrid semifinals this week.
The player who comes out of that section could face a Round of 16 tussle with either No.15 seed Coco Gauff or Angelique Kerber. Gauff and Kerber will face off in a notable opening-round match. Kerber won their lone prior meeting at Wimbledon last year.
No.2 seed Paula Badosa is the highest-ranked player in the last quarter of the draw. She could meet Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. Badosa just beat Kudermetova in the first round of Madrid.
A potential Round of 16 opponent for whoever comes out of that portion could be last year's Roland Garros runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or last year's US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, who will play each other in the first round.
No.6 seed Karolina Pliskova, who reached the last three Rome finals, winning the 2019 title, also features in the bottom quarter.
No.11 seed Jelena Ostapenko, this week's Madrid semifinalist Jil Teichmann and No.18 Elena Rybakina, the highest-ranked unseeded player, are also in this quarter.
Swiatek did not play the first WTA 1000 clay-court event of the season, withdrawing from this week's Mutua Madrid Open with a shoulder injury. But the Polish star is still undefeated at WTA 1000 events in 2022, winning titles in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami during her ascent to No.1.
The bottom portion of the first quarter is loaded with intriguing matchups. Two US Open champions will square off in the first round, as reigning US Open titlist Emma Raducanu will face 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in their first meeting.
Whoever prevails will take on the winner of the match between Sara Sorribes Tormo and another former US Open champion, Naomi Osaka. That opener is a rematch from Madrid, where Sorribes Tormo defeated Osaka en route to the quarterfinals.
The player who comes out of this section could meet No.5 seed Anett Kontaveit in the Round of 16.
No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka is scheduled to face Madrid finalist Jessica Pegula in the Round of 16, if seedings hold. Pegula will face big-hitting Liudmila Samsonova in the first round.
No.7 seed Danielle Collins and No.12 seed Belinda Bencic lurk in the bottom section of this quarter, as does Madrid quarterfinalist Amanda Anisimova.
2020 Rome champion Simona Halep, who has won nine singles titles on clay, is also in this portion. Halep will face Alizé Cornet in the first round in a 2022 Australian Open rematch.
Cornet knocked out Halep in Melbourne this year to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. The winner of this match will meet Collins in the second round.
No.4 seed Maria Sakkari and No.8 seed Garbiñe Muguruza are the highest seeds in the third quarter. Muguruza could potentially play No.9 seed and Madrid finalist Ons Jabeur in the Round of 16.
Sakkari has a tricky second-round match lined up against either former US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Ekaterina Alexandrova, who reached the Madrid semifinals this week.
The player who comes out of that section could face a Round of 16 tussle with either No.15 seed Coco Gauff or Angelique Kerber. Gauff and Kerber will face off in a notable opening-round match. Kerber won their lone prior meeting at Wimbledon last year.
No.2 seed Paula Badosa is the highest-ranked player in the last quarter of the draw. She could meet Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. Badosa just beat Kudermetova in the first round of Madrid.
A potential Round of 16 opponent for whoever comes out of that portion could be last year's Roland Garros runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or last year's US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, who will play each other in the first round.
No.6 seed Karolina Pliskova, who reached the last three Rome finals, winning the 2019 title, also features in the bottom quarter.
No.11 seed Jelena Ostapenko, this week's Madrid semifinalist Jil Teichmann and No.18 Elena Rybakina, the highest-ranked unseeded player, are also in this quarter.
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