Talia Gibson became the third Australian to advance to the round of 64 in Rome after recording her first WTA claycourt victory on Wednesday.
The world No.62 defeated former top-20 player and local wildcard Martina Trevisan 6-4 0-6 6-3 to progress, joining seeded players Maya Joint and Alex de Minaur in the second round.
Despite a second-set bagel, Gibson finished strong, winning the last four games of the match to set an Australian Open 2026 rematch with world No.20 Diana Shnaider.
The 21-year-old held three match points in her only encounter with Shnaider in January, standing one point away from her first round-of-32 appearance at a major. Ranked world No.119 in Melbourne, Gibson has since made significant progress, entering her second battle with Shnaider as the Australian No.2.
The West Australian has won 22 of her 29 matches since the Australian Open, with her purple patch highlighted by deep runs at Indian Wells and Miami, where she defeated five top-20 players from her seven attempts.
> READ: Gibson riding wave of confidence in Sunshine Swing
Wednesday’s win over Trevisan marks her 12th triumph from her past 15 WTA 1000 matches.
Three Australians will be in action on Day 3 as they bid to join Gibson, Joint, and De Minaur in the second round.
Aleksandar Vukic faces American qualifier Patrick Kypson, as Daria Kasatkina battles another American in Caty McNally.
And despite falling to Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean in the final round of qualifying on Tuesday, Ajla Tomljanovic earned her place in the main draw as a lucky loser. The Australian replaces Madrid champion Marta Kostyuk, who withdrew due to a hip injury.
Tomljanovic plays her opening main-draw match on Thursday morning (AEST) when she takes on Italian qualifier Noemi Basiletti, who will make her WTA main-draw debut.
Rinky Hijikata was less fortunate in his qualifying attempt, losing to Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3 6-2.
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