The WTA Rome tournament second round continues on Friday. The WTA is a very competitive tour right now. No one expected Marta Kostyuk to win Madrid. Will we see a completely unexpected champion in Rome? The French Open could be a lot more wide open than many people think. Will the coming days in Italy shake up the tour even more, or will we see the top players take command and remind everyone they are still the ones to beat in women’s tennis? Heading into the weekend, it’s time to see if chaos will continue to reign on the WTA Tour. LWOS has our best bets for three matches. Post your best bets and thoughts in the comments.
WTA Rome
Svitolina – Basiletti: Time 11:00 EST
H2H: 0-0
Elina Svitolina will meet Noemi Basiletti for the first time in her career. Basiletti has been fairly busy on clay so far this year, posting a 9-5 record. Most of those wins came in ITF events, and Svitolina represents a much stronger form of competition. Svitolina is only 2-2 on clay so far, but she did make the semifinal at WTA Stuttgart. She lost to Anna Bondar in Madrid, which shouldn’t have happened. Expect Svitolina to be much more focused this time around, as Rome presents a solid opportunity to build ranking points before the French Open.
Best Bet to Make
Like many of the matches we have covered today, this is going to be another stomping. As much as I love a good underdog, there’s no way in all hell that I would recommend you bet on anything other than a convincing win by Svitolina. Some books have Svitolina as a 17-1 favorite, so you’re going to want to account for a pretty solid spread.
That being said, betting on Svitolina -7 games is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Svitolina -7 games @1.71 @1xBet
Pliskova – Cristian: Time 11:00 EST
H2H: 0-0
Karolina Pliskova vs Jaqueline Cristian is probably my favorite match on the card. For a match that one might think is a throwaway, there are some serious competitive juices in this match. Cristian enters the match as the higher-ranked player. In fact, Cristian is actually ranked 102 spots higher than Pliskova. If you ask me, it’s not going to matter much.
Best Bet to Make
Even though Cristian is ranked 102 spots higher than Pliskova, only Pliskova has had any success on clay so far in 2026. Pliskova has been to two quarterfinals on clay, while Cristian has two wins on clay. Pliskova is favored in this match, and I think it’s the right call. I was going to recommend her for the upset if it had ended up that way. I think it’s best to either take Pliskova straight, but keep it below 2 games if you take a spread.
That being said, betting on Pliskova winning is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Pliskova winning @1.75 @Interwetten
Navarro – Cocciaretto: Time 13:00 EST
H2H: 1-1
Emma Navarro is off to an extremely poor start this year. She’s 4-9 overall and hasn’t won more than two games in a tournament since the middle of January. Elisabetta Cocciaretto is a machine on clay, and she enters this match with a 19-8 overall record, but she hasn’t had the type of success she’s used to having on clay. At least Cocciaretto has a tournament title in 2026, winning in Hobart.
Best Bet to Make
Cocciaretto is a pretty solid favorite entering this match. Not only is Navarro entering on a four-match losing streak, but she gives up an entire point in the odds to Cocciaretto. I think Cocciaretto winning 2:0 has an outstanding return for an extremely likely outcome. If you’re not comfortable with that, I recommend you take the under on 21.5 games at 1.91 on Bet365.
That being said, betting on Cocciaretto winning 2:0 is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Cocciaretto winning 2:0 @2.38 @Bet365
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
