The round of 16 of the WTA Rome tournament will be played on Monday. The WTA Sunday schedule was surprisingly uneven. Seven of the eight matches were straight-set victories, and none of those seven matches were closer than 6-4, 6-3. Players with large playing margins were able to cover them. The underdogs were beaten, with the sole exception of Nikola Bartunkova who defeated Madison Keys in the only three-set match of the day. Will we see another day with the favorites dominating or will the underdogs bounce back? LWOS has our best bets for four matches. Post your best bets and thoughts in the comments.
WTA Rome
Cirstea – Noskova: Time 5:00 EST
H2H: 2-2
Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea beat a world No. 1 player for the first time in her long career last Saturday. She was trailing 6-2, 2-0 to Aryna Sabalenka, but rallied to win 7-5 in the third set. Cirstea was able to repeatedly break Sabalenka’s serve and achieve one of the most memorable victories she has ever achieved. Now we’ll see if Cirstea can back up her top 15 opponent, Linda Noskova, who looked very solid in Rome and is trying to build on her quarterfinal run in Madrid with another quarterfinal appearance in Italy.
The best bet to make
Both players are playing well, but Cirstea’s victory over Sabalenka was a very special performance. Cirstea will have a lot of confidence heading into this match. Even if she loses the first set, Cirstea will know, having regrouped to beat Sabalenka, that she can come back. Noskova deserves respect, but Cirstea earned even more respect against the world No. 1 a few days ago. It’s really difficult to bet against Cirstea here, given that Noskova is not a top-five opponent. Noskova might be in the process of becoming that type of player, but she’s not there yet.
That said, Betting on Cirstea to win is a worthwhile bet, without a doubt.
Value bet/best odds: Cirstea wins at 2.14 @Pinnacle
Gauff – Jovic: Time 6:30 EST
H2H: 0–0
This match will be one of the most interesting battles of the round of 16 in Rome. Coco Gauff hasn’t been playing her best tennis. She is struggling to find her form in what has been a difficult 2026 season for her. Even when you win, it’s not easy. She won a tough three-set match over Solana Sierra in her most recent match in Rome. Iva Jovic has achieved two consecutive victories in Rome, both in straight sets. She is in good shape and will try to cause another big surprise in a tournament in which Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, has already been eliminated.
The best bet to make
This match is likely to be close. Gauff simply isn’t performing up to his standards and his forehand hasn’t fired accurately. That’s when Coco can really struggle. Even if Gauff wins, Jovic will likely make this match competitive. You will get a good price for Jovic +1.5 sets. You could turn a Gauff moneyline bet into a parlay while making the fixed spread bet on Jovic as a single bet.
That said, Betting on Jovic +1.5 sets is a valuable bet without a doubt.
Value bet/best odds: Jovic +1.5 sets @2.05 @10Bet
Kalinskaya – Ostapenko: Time 7:00 EST
H2H: 4-0
Anna Kalinskaya is 4-0 against Jelena Ostapenko, but Ostapenko is the slight favorite in the betting markets. Why would this be the case? Partly because Ostapenko is a former French Open champion and is known as a player who, on a good day, is going to beat her opponent. Ostapenko also just got a good, tough win over Qinwen Zheng, which also earned him respect from the markets. Anna Kalinskaya, however, is playing well. She just beat Belinda Bencic and is having a tremendous Rome tournament. This should be interesting.
The best bet to make
If you followed our advice on the Ostapenko-Zheng match, you won a lot of money. We said we would bet on the match going to three sets (over 2.5 sets) at 2.50, and the bet was valid. Ostapenko is known for playing up-and-down matches that last three sets. Each of their last two matches in Rome have been three sets. Why get off this train when you can keep riding it? There are three games.
That said, Betting on more than 2.5 sets is certainly a valuable bet.
Value bet/best odds: over 2.5 sets at 2.30 @bet-at-home
Mertens – Andreeva: Time 8:00 EST
H2H: 0-0
We have seen several players save match points and win in Rome. Anna Kalinskaya saved nine match points against Katerina Siniakova. Another player who saved match points and won was Elise Mertens against Jasmine Paolini on Saturday. Mertens played against an Italian in Rome and was able to defeat her opponent in front of a supportive partisan crowd. That was really impressive. Mertens now faces Mirra Andreeva, who has had a really good clay season after struggling a lot on hard courts earlier in the year.
The best bet to make
Yes, Mertens fought hard and well to beat Paolini. However, Jasmine Paolini is going through a very difficult season and is not giving her best. She’s not the same player who thrived for much of 2024 and 2025. For that reason, we’re not going to read too much into Mertens. Andreeva is the true fit player of the two and can win this match convincingly. We will go with Andreeva in straight sets. The markets have good prices for 1.5 sets on both sides of the bet (over and under). Let’s choose Andreeva.
That said, Betting on Andreeva to win 2:0 is a worthwhile bet for sure.
Value bet/best odds: Andreeva wins 2:0 @1.94 @Unibet
Feature Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
