GAIBA, Italy (AP) — Italian player Lucia Bronzetti won the first match in the first WTA tournament played on natural grass in Italy on Monday.
The third-seeded Bronzetti beat Justina Mikulskytė 6-1, 6-3 at the Veneto Open. She will next face either Fanny Stollár or Harmony Tan in the round of 16.
Ylena In-Albon of Switzerland also advanced, beating eighth-seeded Chloé Paquet 6-4, 6-2.
The Veneto Open is taking place in Gaiba, a town of less than 1,000 inhabitants — making it the smallest town in the world to host a WTA tournament.
Organizers are using former soccer fields for the tournament and the host tennis club has been nicknamed "Gaibledon" — in homage to Wimbledon.