Raducanu positive despite being 'outplayed' by Gauff

During her encouraging journey to the second week of the Italian Open, Emma Raducanu showcased her quality and fighting spirit across three wins against solid top 100 opponents.

- Tumaini Carayol

The best players in the world, however, present a different challenge. This was reinforced on a windy Grand Stand Arena yesterday as Raducanu was outclassed by a supreme display from the fourth seed Coco Gauff. Fresh off her run to the Madrid Open final, 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.

"I found it really hard today," Raducanu said. "I think the conditions were so different. It was really windy and so high bouncing, and I just found like every ball was out of my strike zone. Coco played a great match, and found great shape, great width, great depth. I felt outplayed today, but it was good to kind of see where I'm at in these conditions."