Emma Raducanu survived a major wobble as she made a winning return to the Italian Open, playing the tournament for the first time in three years. The match was on her racket as she served for it in the second set, but Aussie qualifier Maya Joint stormed back to force a decider.
Raducanu regrouped and, at the third time of asking, she served out a 7-5 6-7(1) 6-3 victory under the floodlights in the brand-new SuperTennis Arena at the Foro Italico. However, Raducanu’s “informal” coach Mark Petchey did not appear to be in her box for the first-round match, with big sister figure Jane O’Donoghue sitting alone.
Petchey – who previously mentored Raducanu in 2020 – has been helping out since the Miami Open.
However, the 22-year-old has explained that their agreement is an informal one, with Petchey fitting her in around his Tennis Channel commentary role, and he appeared to be busy with his other job on Wednesday evening.
There was little separating Raducanu and Joint throughout the night. They traded breaks early on, but the world No. 49 earned a crucial advantage at 5-5, roaring as she ripped a return winner across the court to break.
The former US Open champion swiftly closed out the first set to love, with the clock just shy of an hour, and reeled off her fifth game in a row as she took an early 2-0 lead in the second set. But, just as she appeared to be racing away with it, the Aussie broke back.
The world No. 49 regained her lead, but she had to work to stay ahead, saving two break points to put herself within a game of the second round.
But the cat-and-mouse game continued, and Joint gave herself a lifeline, breaking as Raducanu served for the match to throw another spanner in the works.
The second set went to a tiebreak where the teenage qualifier stepped it up, dropping just one point to force a deciding set.
It was a blow for Raducanu, who had been two points away from the second round, and she left the court for a comfort break before getting the third set underway.
The brief break seemed to do wonders for Raducanu, who was unstoppable when she returned to the court. In less than half an hour, the British No. 2 had broken twice and hurtled into a 5-0 lead.
Joint got herself on the board, avoiding the bagel, and she threw one final challenge in Raducanu’s way, breaking again when the Brit served for it at 5-1. Finally, it was third time lucky for Raducanu, who closed it out at the third time of asking, needing two match points.
It’s Raducanu’s first win at the Foro Italico, as she was forced to retire injured while facing Bianca Andreescu in her only previous appearance here in 2022.
The former US Open champion is now through to face 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in what will be their third meeting this year. Raducanu beat Alexandrova at the Australian Open in January but the Russian got revenge a few weeks later in Doha.