By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, May 11, 2025
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Flushing Meadows is a long way from the Foro Italico.
Still, we may see Times Square-level electricity pop among the muscular marble statues when US Open champions Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu square off on Rome’s red clay for a quarterfinal spot.
Today, the fourth-seeded Gauff dispatched Magda Linette 7-5, 6-3 to reach the round of 16 for the fourth time.
The resurgent Raducanu rebounded resoundingly.
Raducanu roared through 12 of the last 13 games in a 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 win over Veronika Kudermetova to reach her maiden Rome round of 16.
The 21-year-old Gauff is the youngest woman to reach the Rome round of 16 four times since former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in 2011.
Despite patches of sloppy serving—Gauff hit six double faults with no aces—the WTA Finals champion found her range and rhythm as the match progressed in avenging a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Linette before her home fans at the Miami Open in March.
Avenging that defeat keeps Gauff on a historic path in the Eternal City. The Delray Beach-born baseliner is bidding to become the youngest woman to reach Madrid and Rome finals in the same season and the first American to win Rome since Serena Williams in 2016.
After a tough opening-round win, Gauff navigated a stress test converting her fifth match point—after she saved a break point—to close in one hour, 41 minutes. Gauff gave herself a B grade for the Mother’s Day victory.
“Probably a B; I think I was playing the right way the whole match,” Gauff told Tennis Channel host Prakash Amritraj afterward. “I think I could have gotten more depth in the first set.
“Maybe an A because I lost to her in Miami so it was nice to get revenge.
“I just try to focus on breathing and try to slow my breath down [under pressure] and just try to forget about it. Because you can’t change the past. It was definitely frustrating toward the end losing all those match points but happy to close it out on my serve.”
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It opens up the prospect of all-court creativity colliding when Gauff and Raducanu meet for the first time on red clay. It will be their second overall meeting.
In a match of both superb and sometime sporadic shot making, Gauff defeated Raducanu 6-3, 7-6(4) at the Australian Open in what many thought was a preview of future major battles.
Two-time Rome semifinalist and former French Open finalist Gauff is far more experienced on clay than Raducanu.
However, the 49th-ranked Raducanu is playing the best clay-court tennis of her life right now.
“I’ll watch some [Gauff matches], I think my team will watch,” Raducanu told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “She’s such a great opponent you know you have to play really well and execute your game great.
“I think I’ve gone away from studying my opponent so much and [instead] focusing on myself.”
Tennis Channel commentator and former ATP pro Mark Petchey is not listed as Raducanu’s official coach, but he has been instrumental in her bounce back. Petchey, who formerly coached Andy Murray, has been in Raducanu’s box as an unofficla coach since Miami started and did a training block with her before this clay campaign began.
Working with Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue, a resurgent Raducanu has posted an 8-2 record in her last three events, reached the Miami Open quarterfinals and returned to the Top 50 for the first time in three years.
Importantly, Raducanu, who was spooked by a stalker during the Middle East swing, looks much happier on court these days. That shows in the fact she’s fighting on a point-by-point basis and not letting grim circumstance, like failing to serve out the first set at 5-4 today, dampen her fighting spirit.
Of course, Raducanu will need more than good vibes and sound game plan against the gritty Gauff.
WTA Finals champion Gauff said she’s expecting “a great match” against Raducanu.
“She’s obviously a great player,” Gauff told Tennis Channel host Prakash Amritraj. “Last time we played it was a great match.
“I think she has the game to be a great clay court player obviously a great player in general but especially on clay. It’s gonna be a great match. Yeah I’m looking forward to it and hopefully I can come out with the win.”
Both women are exceptionally quick around the court, both are agile athletes who can create magic on the move and both can bring the variety to rallies.
Gauff often plays high heavy topspin forehands down the line to both move an opponent back behind the baseline and create the crosscourt backhand exchanges where she’s so lethal.
Like Gauff, Raducanu’s backhand is her more reliable wing, but the Briton’s forehand grip is not as extreme as Gauff’s western grip so she’s typically more dangerous on the low ball to the forehand.
Raducanu changed up the pace and heights of her shots, defusing the flat-hitting Kudermetova.
Can Raducanu work the shot slice backhand to make Gauff dig low balls out with her sometime flaky forehand? How will Gauff respond to Raducanu’s favorite serve—the slice wide on the deuce side she uses to open the court for the first strike?
Who will win the battle of court positioning and how will Raducanu respond if Gauff is stepping in blasting her backhand with authority as she did dismantling reigning Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek in Madrid?
These are questions to consider when the US Open champion clash on Rome’s red clay.
It was a great day for US Open champions.
The 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu broke serve three times and saved all five break points she faced upsetting 2023 Rome champion Elena Rybakina, 6-2, 6-4.
Deploying unsettling variety of shots, Andreescu advanced to the round of 16 where she could meet Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen.
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All that happened after reigning US Open champion and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka subdued 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The big-hitting Belarusian Sabalenka will face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk for a quarterfinal spot.
