American tennis star Coco Gauff put on a dominant display as she eased past Emma Raducanu on Monday to book her spot in the Italian Open quarterfinals.
The No. 4 seed dropped just three games in her convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over her British opponent in Rome, needing just 79 minutes to secure victory.
In reaching the quarterfinals, the 21-year-old becomes the youngest player to reach four quarterfinals in WTA 1000 clay tournaments since the top-level events were introduced in 2009.
Gauff will face world No. 7 Mirra Andreeva in the final eight on Wednesday after the 18-year-old came back to beat Clara Tauson in three sets.
Gauff is showing impressive form on clay at the right time with the French Open just around the corner.
The American has won eight of her last nine matches on the surface, with her only loss coming in the final of the Madrid Open to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff revealed after her victory over Raducanu that she has been focusing on her footwork over the last two weeks in preparation for playing at Roland Garros, and highlighted her forehand – which has been inconsistent of late – as a key factor in her win on Monday.
“I think, today, (it) was the reason why I won the match,” Gauff told reporters. “Especially on this surface, I think I can do a lot with it.”
Gauff was in control from the outset against Raducanu on Campo Centrale and never let up. She won 39 of her 59 service points and broke Raducanu’s serve four times.
She admitted that it has taken some time to get adjusted to playing on a different surface in Italy but feels good about where she is now.
“It still feels so slow compared to Madrid,” Gauff said, “but I’m getting used to it with each match. I feel really happy with how I played. I think I really was the one dictating the match for the most part.”
Elsewhere on Monday, Sabalenka held of a stiff challenge from Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk to book her spot in the quarterfinals, winning 6-1, 7-6 (8) in two hours and five minutes.
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