The seeds did not hold in Rome. Franco Stupaczuk and Miguel Yanguas, one of the most dangerous pairings in the men's draw, are out in the round of 16 — beaten in straight sets by a lower-ranked duo who never let the match slip. On a day when the top two seeds in both draws barely broke sweat, the middle of the bracket did the damage.
Jerónimo González / Lucas Campagnolo 6-4 7-6 Franco Stupaczuk / Miguel Yanguas
The ranking gap tells the story: Stupaczuk (No. 6) and Yanguas (No. 7) were the clear favourites over Jerónimo González (No. 14) and Lucas Campagnolo (No. 21), and they leave Rome having won a single set fewer than expected. González and Campagnolo took the first 6-4 and then held their nerve through a tense second set that went to a tiebreak.
Stupaczuk and Yanguas are still a relatively new project, and matches like this expose the cost of an unsettled dynamic. When the second set reached the breaker, it was the underdogs who played the cleaner points and closed it out without a third. No wobble, no let-up.
It is a meaningful result for the draw. A top-eight seed pairing is gone, opening a clear path in that quarter and handing González and Campagnolo their most significant scalp of the season so far.
Nuria Rodríguez / Giulia Dal Pozzo 6-4 0-6 7-6 Carolina Orsi / Patricia Llaguno
A match of extremes. Nuria Rodríguez and Italy's Giulia Dal Pozzo took the opener 6-4, were then handed a bagel — losing the second set 6-0 without answer — before recovering to win a deciding-set tiebreak. Momentum swung violently, and it was the pair who steadied last that survived.
The middle set was a total collapse and then a total reset. Rodríguez and Dal Pozzo were overrun 6-0, regrouped, and dragged the decider all the way to a breaker they had no right to expect after that second set. For Dal Pozzo, a home run on Italian soil, it is exactly the kind of scrappy win that builds a tournament.
Nuria Rodríguez / Giulia Dal Pozzo 3-6 6-3 6-2 Sofía Araújo / Claudia Fernández
Rodríguez and Dal Pozzo backed up the R16 escape with a genuine upset. Sofía Araújo (No. 8) and Claudia Fernández (No. 6) were the seeded pair and took the first set 3-6, but the underdogs turned the match with a decisive middle set and pulled clear 6-2 in the third.
Losing the opener and winning the next two by widening margins points to a fitness and nerve advantage that grew as the match went on. Dal Pozzo's run is now the story of the women's draw — a semi-final berth secured against a top-eight pairing, and a marquee home result for the tournament.
Arturo Coello / Agustín Tapia 6-1 6-1 David Gala / Enzo Jensen
No drama here. The world No. 1 pairing of Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia dismissed David Gala and Enzo Jensen for the loss of two games, controlling the net and the tempo from the first exchange. A routine, statement-level round of 16.
Gemma Triay / Delfina Brea 6-1 6-1 Patricia Martínez Fortún / Claudia Escacena
The women's top seeds matched the men's for ruthlessness. Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea conceded just two games against Patricia Martínez Fortún and Claudia Escacena, never allowing the underdogs a foothold on either side of the court. Efficient and untroubled.
With the top two seeds in both draws through cheaply and Stupa-Yanguas eliminated, the quarter-finals reshape around Dal Pozzo's run and the widening space left by the day's upsets. Rome's home hope carries the narrative into the closing rounds.