Italian Open: Raducanu battles hard to reach second round

Emma Raducanu advanced to the second round of the Italian Open by beating Australian qualifier Maya Joint 7-5, 6-7 (1), 6-3 at the Foro Italico in Roma on Wednesday evening.

The match was characterized by shifts in momentum, with Raducanu displaying resilience and aggression, particularly in the decisive third set.

Raducanu served for the match at 7-5, 5-4, but Joint broke the 2021 US Open winner to get back on a level footing at 5-5. Joint dominated the second-set tiebreak to tie up the match at one set all.

Raducanu surged to a 5-0 lead in the third but had to save a break point at 5-3 in the third and clinch her place in the second round.

“I think the level was really high today, Maya played so aggressive,” Raducanu told Sky Sports after the march. “I’m really proud of how I came through. I found it so hard this morning, the wait and the rain and the delay,” she added. “Really proud of how I came back in the match.”

Raducanu, ranked No 49, will play No 21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova next.

Roma WTA 1000, other first-round results (Foro Italico, clay, EUR 6.009.593, most recent results first):

• Marta Kostyuk beat Alexandra Eala: 6-0, 6-1
• Katie Volynets vs. Arantxa Rus: wednesday
• Dayana Yastremska vs. Anastasia Potapova: wednesday
• Olga Danilovic beat Katerina Siniakova: 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Antonia Ruzic (Q) beat Tyra Caterina Grant (WC): 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Emiliana Arango (Q) beat Viktoriya Tomova: 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4
• Maria Sakkari (Q) beat Belinda Bencic: 6-2 ret.
• Eva Lys beat Moyuka Uchijima: 6-1, 6-0
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Katie Boulter: 6-3, 6-3
• Veronika Kudermetova beat Lucrezia Stefanini (WC): 7-5, 6-2
• Bianca Andreescu beat Federica Urgesi (WC): 6-0, 6-3
• Hailey Baptiste (Q) beat Anna Blinkova (Q): 7-6 (7), 6-4
• Ashlyn Krueger beat Anna Bondar (Q): 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto (WC) beat Elina Avanesyan: 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
• Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Q) beat Polina Kudermetova: 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-2
• Victoria Mboko (Q) beat Arianna Zucchini (WC): 6-2, 6-3
• Varvara Gracheva beat Ajla Tomljanovic (Q): 6-3, 6-4
• Caroline Dolehide beat Olivia Gadecki (LL): 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-2
• Kamilla Rakhimova (LL) beat Xinyu Wang: 6-3, 6-2
• Victoria Azarenka beat Camila Osorio: 6-2, 6-3
• Naomi Osaka beat Sara Errani (WC): 6-2, 6-3
• Marie Bouzkova beat Mayar Sherif: 6-2, 7-5
• Sonay Kartal beat Kimberly Birrell: 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Peyton Stearns beat Nuria Brancaccio (WC): 6-3, 6-2
• Rebecca Sramkova beat McCartney Kessler: 6-3, 6-3
• Lucia Bronzetti beat Anastasija Sevastova: 6-3, 6-4
• Suzan Lamens beat Renata Zarazua: 6-1, 1-6, 6-1
• Jaqueline Cristian beat Alycia Parks: 6-2, 6-0
• Petra Kvitova beat Irina-Camelia Begu: 7-5, 6-1
• Lulu Sun beat Giorgia Pedone (WC): 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Ann Li: 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3)