Alison only knows how to win at the Veneto Open. Super Tuesday with 11 matches and Sara Errani

The Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck beat the Swiss Celine Naef in the first round of the Veneto Open promoted by the Veneto Region (photo Creativite Idea)

There are many beautiful memories in Alison Van Uytvanck’s mind linked to Gaiba. “When you win a tournament they never fail,” she underlines with satisfaction after starting again from where she left off two years ago. “I’ve played six games here and I’m still unbeaten, I want to continue like this.” The Veneto Open promoted by the Veneto Region for 2024 started under a very hot pre-summer sun and the Belgian, with a light complexion and red hair, immediately made things clear. Not just in words, but in deeds: a good start and two sets used to regain confidence with the Venetian grass and to overcome the young Swiss Celine Naef, someone who, despite being 19 years old, has demonstrated her ability on the green. With excellent footwork, very deep shots and the right cuts, the Swiss made up for the experience gap with liveliness and physical exuberance and took a 5-2 lead in the first set. Then some balls slipped away by centimeters, the serve creaked and the security crumbled under the greater habit and continuity of the Belgian who took the lead and then closed 7-5 6-1. For one promising Swiss who says hello, there is another who instead keeps her feet firmly on the grass of Gaiba. This is Susan Bandecchi, Swiss passport, Tuscan roots and training base in Milan. “I’m not Italian, but it’s as if I were,” she smiles. And in fact there is no shortage of support for her in these parts, so everything was easier against Lulu Sun. “It also helped me that I had already played a qualifying match, but then every match must be won on the pitch.” To do so she scored a 6-3 6-4 in which she never encountered any major difficulties, despite the left-handed tennis – therefore particularly treacherous on these surfaces – of the 23-year-old New Zealander.

Everything seemed easy for the American (Uzbek by birth) Varvara Lepchenko, someone who can boast a best ranking of no.19 in the world (in 2012) and a participation for Team USA in the Olympic Games (London). Instead she was an illusion that lasted just one set, won 6-1. Then the Belarusian Aliona Falei was able to get back on track and, returning the same score in the second set, closed the matter 6-2 in the third, effectively also canceling the gap of 18 years of experience compared to her opponent (20 and 38 years are the respective ages). Nice story, but rather ordinary in the professional circuits, that of the Indian Ankita Raina, defeated in the qualifiers and then recovered after the withdrawal of the Italian Lucrezia Stefanini: she took advantage of the second chance and gained the pass for the second round by beating the Czech Dominika Salkova 7-5 6-3. The long wave of the first rounds reaches until Tuesday, which condenses 11 matches into a single day. We start at 12.30, when it’s Tatjana Maria’s turn to open the program, the 36-year-old German who is at the top of the scoreboard and the list of favorites: her debut against the Romanian Irina Bara on the Central Court. Which will then also host the debut of Sara Errani, not before 4.00pm (live on SuperTennis TV) against the Serbian Natalija Stevanovic. The 37-year-old from Romagna, fresh from her success in doubles at the Rome Internationals and from the Roland Garros final (again paired with Jasmine Paolini) aims to return to the Gaiba final, a feat she has already achieved in 2022 (defeated by Alison Van Uytvanck). She won’t be the only Italian in the race, given that there will also be room for the other two wild cards Beatrice Ricci and Giorgia Pedone, respectively Tuscan and Sicilian and opposed to the same number of Americans (Robin Montgomery and Hailey Baptiste). To closely follow the growth of the young Italians, even on such a particular surface, Tathiana Garbin, the captain of the Italian national team of Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Fed Cup), has already arrived in Gaiba, she who is from Mestre by birth, only a hundred km further north.

RESULTS
First round: Van Uytvanck (Bel) b. Naef (Sui) 7-5 6-1, Bandecchi (Sui, Q) b. Sun (Nzl) 6-3 6-4, Raina (Ind, LL) b. Salkova (Cze) 7-5 6-3, Falei b. Lepchenko (USA, Q) 1-6 6-1 6-2. To conclude: Rosatello (Ita) vs Andreeva (7).

Central – 12.30pm
(1) Tatjana Maria vs Irina Bara ROU
Kamilla Rakhimova RUS vs (2) Maria Lourdes Carle ARG
Natalija Stevanovic SRB vs (4) Sara Errani ITA Not before 4pm
Beatrice Ricci ITA vs. Robin Montgomery USA Not before 6.30pm

Court 1 – 12.30pm
(8) Bernarda Pera USA vs Darja Semenistaja LAT
(6) Hailey Baptiste USA vs Giorgia Pedone ITA
(3) Jessica Bouzas Maneiro EXP vs Anca Todoni ROU
Viktoria Hruncakova SVK vs (5) Renata Zarazua MEX