Raducanu battles past qualifier Joint to reach second round in Rome

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Emma Raducanu was forced to dig deep and battle past teenage qualifier Maya Joint in the Italian Open first round.

The 2021 US Open champion was taken to the wire by her 19-year-old opponent, before eventually prevailing 7-5 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 after two hours and 44 minutes in Rome.

Raducanu was broken in game six of the opening set, but responded immediately, before breaking for 6-5 and drawing first blood with a hold to love.

The Briton served for the match at 5-4 up in the second set, only for Australian Joint to break back and subsequently dominate the tie-break to force a decider.

Raducanu quickly regained control by surging into a 5-0 lead.

Despite Joint recovering to only trail 5-3, the 22-year-old got over the line at the second attempt to book her place in round two.

Data Debrief: When in Rome...

This was Raducanu's first appearance at this WTA 1000 event since 2022, when she was forced to retire in her opening match against Bianca Andreescu.

The Briton was given a scare, but eventually managed to scrape through to notch her maiden victory in the Italian capital.

Next up will be 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova for what will be their third meeting of 2025. Raducanu prevailed at the Australian Open, while Alexandrova came out on top in Doha.