During her encouraging journey to the second week of the Italian Open,Emma Raducanudemonstrated her quality and fighting spirit across three wins against solid top 100 opponents.
The best players in the world, however, present a completely different challenge. This was reinforced on a difficult Monday afternoon as Raducanu was outclassed by a supreme performance from the fourth seed Coco Gauff. Fresh off her run to thefinal of the Madrid Open, Gauff played another brilliant match in a contest between two former US Open champions to reach the quarter-finals in Rome with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 win.
After starting the season with some of the best tennis of her entire career at the United Cup in January, Gauff’s first few months of the year were disappointing, with numerous early losses and defeats by players ranked outside the top 50. However, her fortunes have rapidly turned on the red clay, which generally provides her with more time to set up her forehand and impose its heavy topspin while further amplifying her peerless defensive skills.
So far in her career, Gauff’s biggest titles have exclusively come on hard courts, but she is equally dangerous on clay. She reached her first grand slam finalat the 2022 French Open, aged just 18. The pair had played just once before as professionals, with Gauff beating Raducanu in two tight sets in thesecond round of the 2023 Australian Open.
It took just five minutes for Gauff to highlight the immense challenge her game presents. She started the match pinning Raducanu with her relentless depth and weight of shot behind her much-improved forehand, speeding to a 3-0 lead.
On clay, the ball bounces even higher in warmer conditions, further facilitating heavy topspin. As she carefully pushed Raducanu back and prodded her around the court, Gauff’s forehand completely overwhelmed the Briton in the opening games, continually spinning up high out of Raducanu’s strike zone. Alongside her superior weight of shot and immaculate depth, Gauff’s defence made it so difficult to hit through her. There was no way out.
As the first set fell away from her, Raducanu tried many different things. She ended the first set simply slapping every forehand within reach, attacking as early in the point. It paid off for a few points – she swung the final game from 40-0 at 5-1 on Gauff’s serve to break point – but it only delayed the inevitable.
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This is hardly the first time that Raducanu’s game has appeared underpowered against the elite and it shows why she prefers faster conditions that aid her ball speed. Although Raducanu opened up the second set with a better serving level, putting together two solid holds, it did not last. Midway through the second set, Gauff turned the knife again at 2-2, rolling through the final four games to victory.
Despite the emphatic nature of her defeat, this still represents a positive week for Raducanu and by far her best result on outdoor red clay. She played quality tennis, blending her attacking intentions with the growing variety in her game, and she continues to gradually rise up the rankings. A result like this is a reminder that she also has plenty more work to do.