The scoreline in Emma Raducanu’s 6-1, 6-2 defeat against Coco Gauff at the Italian Open will do little to suggest she is ready to compete with the game’s top stars, but she should take some encouragement from the match.
Raducanu’s latest defeat against a top ten rival brings her record against players in that elite list to one win from eight matches, but there is no doubt that she will head into the French Open at Roland Garros with renewed confidence on the surface.
This was her first appearance in the last-16 of a WTA 1000 clay court event and in passages of the match, she showed she could match Gauff.
Former British No 1 Tim Henman agreed with that sentiment, as he gave his views to Sky Sports Tennis.
“When you reflect on the score, it looks very straightforward, but I think there were a couple of really long games, but on each of those occasions it was Gauff who found a way to come through,” said Henman.
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“It wasn’t the result or performance Raducanu was looking for. She didn’t have the opportunity to dictate because Gauff was hitting so aggressively from the back of the court.
“But when you reflect on Raducanu’s clay-court season so far, it’s been very positive. The clay courts at Roland Garros are the trust, the best, they will suit Emma even more.
“Her game is moving in the right direction, she’s up to 42 in the live rankings. A number in the back of my mind is 32 – can she be seeded pre-Wimbledon and get that protection in the early rounds on grass?”
The game she played when Gauff was serving for the first set at 5-1 was bursting with power-packed winners and she also missed some presentable chances to close out games and put her American rival under pressure.
That may be down to Raducanu’s lack of belief on clay courts, with world No 3 Gauff a much more experienced performer on this surface.
The message Raducanu should take from this match should be that when she commits to her shots and attacks opponents, she is a threat to anyone on this surface.
Yet she will be concerned by the serving issues that continue to trouble her.
While the double faults that were a feature of her game prior to Mark Petchey’s arrival as her part-time coach have been erased, Raducanu is still struggling to land enough effective first serves to get through games quickly.
That is giving her opponents real encouragement and also piling the pressure on Raducanu, who often find herself serving soon after she has battled her way through a long game of her own.
It is an area that may improve when she gets on grass and hard courts, where her serve will be aided by the faster surface, yet it appears she doesn’t have the weapons she needs to challenge for big titles on clay.
Her three wins in Rome have seen her move to within a couple of places of British No 1 Katie Boulter in the WTA Rankings and a couple of wins at the French Open may be enough to see her reclaim that position.
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