Coco Gauff thrashed Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 in a ruthless demolition by the American third seed. Raducanu entered what was her first last-16 match at the Italian Open in buoyant form, but was met by a blistering performance from Gauff.
Gauff began with a double fault but kept any further mistakes to a minimum. She quickly broke a Raducanu who struggled in the early wind and was little match for the Brit on clay.
Raducanu got on the board at 3-1, at the third time of asking on her serve, but the first set very much belonged to Gauff. Her serve was uninterrupted but a sublime cross-court forehand unsettled the frontrunner as Raducanu posed some resistance.
She had a smile on her face for the first time in the contest, but that was quickly wiped away as Gauff claimed the next three games, wrapping up the first set in 39 minutes.
Raducanu appeared somewhat reticent to slide in and out of the clay corners, with Gauff’s supreme physicality the deciding factor between the two former US Open champions.
Raducanu started the second set with an important hold, only for Gauff to serve out her first game to love, reserving any energy to break the Raducanu serve.
The British No. 2 was not at her free-flowing best, but was able to claim a second hold and better her tally from the opening set.
However, Gauff, one of the fastest players on tour, moved from side to side with mindblowing speed to break Raducanu and gain the upper hand once more, converting her two break points at the very first attempt.
Coach Mark Petchey applauded Raducanu’s attempt to be aggressive in that game, moving Gauff to every corner of the court, but she had nothing to show for those valiant efforts.
Play momentarily stopped as the blustery Rome wind picked up, before Gauff expertly judged a ball heading out of play and Raducanu sent an opportunity to break for a first break of serve wide.
At this stage of the match, having blown her biggest opportunity to rattle Gauff, Raducanu was playing back-to-the-wall tennis and could do little but watch her opponent break serve and hold on to complete the victory.
The 21-year-old set up a quarter-final with either seventh seed Mirra Andreeva or her Danish opponent Clara Tauson.
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