On a day where many seeded competitors were upset, No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula faced minimal resistance in her Italian Open opener Friday, coasting to a 6-4, 6-0 defeat of Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in Rome.

Pegula, who lost her second match in her last tournament at Madrid, was clinical in this match, facing just one break point while converting 4 of 7 on Sonmez’s serve.

“It was really good. The first set was pretty tough … then I started to play a little bit more free,” Pegula told the Tennis Channel. “I’m happy with my performance today.”

Pegula won 72.9% of her service points and 50% of her return points, finishing with three aces against no double faults on the clay-court surface.

“I was a little nervous and I was on edge coming into today. She already had a match under her belt. I felt better getting through.”

Next up for the American will be Switzerland’s Rebekah Masarova, who knocked out 25th-seeded Canadian Leylah Fernandez 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Masarova was twice down a break in the second set, but rallied and came away with the only break of the decisive set.

She struggled on her serve with 10 double faults and hitting on 58% of her first serves. But when she hit those, she was dominant, winning 82.7% (43 of 52) of her first-service points. Fernandez follows the quarterfinal appearance in Madrid with a one-and-done trip to Rome.

Another Canadian, No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw due to gastrointestinal issues shortly before her Friday match vs. Italy’s Tyra Caterina Grant. Czech lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova replaced Mboko, beating Grant 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Round of 32.

She’ll next face No. 17 Madison Keys, who rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Peyton Stearns in an all-American battle. Keys saved nine of her 13 break points she faced, including the only one in the third set, which she won in just 33 minutes.

“I think I like clay more than grass now,” the 31-year-old Keys told the Tennis Channel. “That’s insane, but I think I do. Maybe it’s my older age catching up to me and wanting the court to be a little slower.”

In the final match of the day, No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 in 75 minutes.

Plenty of other seeded competitors did not advance so easily, if at all. No. 11 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic fell to Austria’s Anastasia Potapova (6-3, 6-2), who carried over her momentum from a semifinal appearance in Madrid. No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia came up just short in a marathon, falling 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 to Germany’s Laura Siegemund in two hours and 48 minutes.

No. 28 Emma Navarro lost 6-3, 6-3 to Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, No. 33 Romanian Jaqueline Cristian lost 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 6-4 to Czech Karolina Pliskova in a match which lasted over three hours and No. 31 Xinyu Wang fell 6-4, 6-3 to Alexandra Eala of The Philippines.

No. 4 Iga Swiatek of Poland outlasted Caty McNally for a 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory, and No. 15 Naomi Osaka of Japan had a similar second-round victory, surviving Germany’s Eva Lys for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 triumph.

No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Kazakhstan had less trouble, finishing off a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Italy’s Noemi Basiletti in 75 minutes.

No. 19 Diana Shnaider and No. 20 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia as well as No. 32 Hailey Baptiste also won their opening matches on Friday. Shnaider rallied for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Australia’s Talia Gibson, Samsonova swept Ann Li 6-4, 6-3 and Baptiste escaped with a 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4 win over Switzerland’s Simona Waltert.

–Field Level Media

Aaron Rai finished the front nine strong to post a 4-under-par 67 Friday and take a one-stroke lead into the weekend of the ONEflight Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Classic.

Rai is one of only a handful of competitors in the opposite-field event, which serves as an alternate for this week’s Truist Championship, who has already qualified for next week’s PGA Championship. The winner of this event will earn a spot, if they haven’t already qualified.

Starting on the 10th hole, the Englishman was just 1 under on the back nine before carding birdies on four of the first seven holes on the front nine. He finished his round with back-to-back pars to climb to 10-under 132.

While Rai is the highest-ranked player in the field (No. 42), he couldn’t let that affect how he approached the event at Dunes Golf and Beach Club.

“Everyone starts at the same playing field on Thursday, and everyone who is in this field is good enough to win. No one has any rights to walk in and play well and compete,” Rai said. “Just try to approach it as I would any tournament. Prepare as well as I can and, yeah, just run through as many good routines as I can during the week.”

One stroke behind Rai are Brandt Snedeker (66) and Mark Hubbard (67) at 9 under. Snedeker was bogey-free with five birdies Friday, while Hubbard had three bogeys and three birdies on the front nine before scoring 4 under on the back nine, including consecutive birdies on Nos. 9-12.

“Overall just found something in my putting,” Hubbard said. “I wasn’t really feeling that great early with it. Then just kind of found a little setup cue that turned things around and gained some confidence from there.”

Kevin Roy (66) and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout (67) round out the top five at 8 under.

Round 1 leader Martin Laird of Scotland posted a 4-over 75 Friday to fall into a tie for 30th at 3 under.

Brooks Koepka, who was paired with Rai each of the first two days, shot 1 under in the second round to sit in a tie for 22nd at 4 under entering the weekend.

–Field Level Media

Australia’s Lucas Herbert bettered his stellar first round by a shot and opened up a six-shot gulf between him and the field at LIV Golf Virginia on Friday in Potomac Falls, Va.

Herbert’s 9-under-par 63 rocketed him to 17 under for the event at Trump National DC. Spaniard Sergio Garcia (67), at 11 under, is the only player within nine shots of Herbert, while Englishman Richard Bland had the second-best round of the day, a 66, to take third place at 7 under.

Herbert holed nine birdies and nine pars in his mistake-free trip around the course. He sank six birdies in a seven-hole stretch from Nos. 6-12, then ended his round birdie-birdie for good measure.

“It was kind of one of those days — probably 36 holes, two of those days — of things that probably just come easy in some respects,” Herbert said. “To be honest, I probably tried to enjoy it a little bit out there because I was able to in the moment see that that was happening and kind of just be able to sit back and appreciate it a little bit and understand this is pretty not normal. You don’t know how many times as a golfer you’re going to get to experience that kind of feeling.”

Herbert, 30, has won on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Asian Tour but is still seeking his first LIV title in his third year with the league.

Herbert said he spent time Thursday night with his wife and her family, not thinking about his first-round lead.

“It was kind of good to get away from the fact that I was sitting on a two-shot lead there and think about something else for a while,” he said. “I think we might be doing something pretty similar the way it worked out overnight.”

Herbert’s stellar score has helped the all-Australian Ripper GC build a six-shot lead over Crushers GC and Cleeks Golf Club in the team competition. Ripper (featuring Marc Leishman, Elvis Smylie and captain Cameron Smith) is 21 under.

Garcia got hot at the end of his round, birdieing Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18. That included a 19-foot birdie putt followed by a 14-footer at the par-3 14th and 16th holes.

“I felt like, if I could shoot 3 under, it would be a really nice round and stuff. I managed to shoot 5, and I’m still far away from the lead,” Garcia said. “Yeah, it was a good day. Obviously tricky with the wind and everything and the greens getting firmer, but very, very happy with the way I handled it.”

Bland, 53, is vying for his first LIV victory like Herbert. He opened with three birdies in his first five holes (Nos. 8-12), then added birdies coming in at Nos. 2, 5 and 7 while staying bogey-free.

Bland said he’s winding down his playing career and content with where things stand.

“I kind of earmarked next year would probably be my last year of playing full-time, as I do right now. Then going forward, really kind of scattered, but play where I want to play.

“… So, yeah, semi-retirement, it’s getting a lot nearer — and that’s fine. I’m OK with that. I’ve had one helluva ride out here and the best decision I ever made.”

Bryson DeChambeau and Spanish star Jon Rahm each shot 70 Friday and are part of a tie for seventh at 5 under as they prepare for next week’s PGA Championship.

–Field Level Media