Now with a first-ever win at the Italian Open under her belt, Emma Raducanu continues her clay-court adventure against Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova in Friday's second-round showdown.
The Briton overcame a challenging first-round test posed by Australian Maya Joint in the first round, while Alexandrova enters the WTA 1000 tournament at this stage owing to her 21st-seed placement.
Match preview
© Imago
With minimal clay-court practice in the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, Raducanu's first-round battle with Joint saw her end a three-year exile from the Rome Masters, having entered and swiftly exited her debut tournament in 2022 when she retired against Bianca Andreescu.
However, the former US Open champion has now - rather belatedly - won a main-draw match at the Italian Open for the very first time, holding off a second-set Joint fightback in Wednesday's engrossing 7-5 6-7[1] 6-3 victory over the Australian qualifier.
Taking two hours and 44 minutes to punch her ticket to the second round, Raducanu fashioned 15 break points on the Joint serve - converting six of them - while displaying her trademark aggression when attacking the Australian's serve with venomous returns.
The third and final set perhaps should have been a simpler ride for Raducanu, who stormed into a 5-0 lead before Joint broke back while the 22-year-old was serving for the match, but she quickly rectified those mistakes to progress on her second match point.
Having also overcome Suzan Lamens in Madrid before falling to Marta Kostyuk's superiority, even reaching the second round at both clay Masters tournaments is a significant landmark for Raducanu ahead of an expected first French Open appearance in three years.
© Imago
While the 2021 US Open champion is arguably still finding her feet on the clay, the ever-present Alexandrova has competed at each of the last eight French Open tournaments since 2017, albeit while never progressing past the third round and going out at the opening hurdle last year.
Results in Rome have also been rather underwhelming for the Russian, who will match her best-ever run at the Italian Open should she get the better of Raducanu, having reached the third round in 2021 before a trio of consecutive second-round exits in the past three years.
Alexandrova commences her latest WTA 1000 journey on the back of a respectable run to the fourth round of the Madrid Open, where she took down Olga Danilovic and 14th seed Daria Kasatkina in straight sets before a surprise defeat to Japan's Moyuka Uchijima.
A five-time champion on the WTA Tour, Alexandrova already has one notable triumph under her belt in 2025 - taking home the Linz Open title from February's WTA 500 tournament - but the 30-year-old is still waiting for a maiden singles final on the red dirt.
However, Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai progressed to the doubles final in April's Stuttgart Open on the clay, and the world number 20 could come up against compatriot Veronika Kudermetova or the USA's Amanda Anisimova in round three of the Italian Open should she halt Raducanu's momentum.
Tournament so far
Ekaterina Alexandrova:
First round: Bye
Emma Raducanu:
First round: vs. Maya Joint 7-5 6-7[1] 6-3
Head To Head
Qatar Open (2025) - First Round: Alexandrova wins 6-3 7-5
Australian Open (2025) - First Round: Raducanu wins 7-6[4] 7-6[2]
Alexandrova and Raducanu had never collided at the top level before the current campaign, but the pair have already clashed twice in 2025 and boast one win apiece from their previous battles.
The duo's blockbuster first head-to-head came in the opening round of this year's Australian Open, where Raducanu held her nerve in two nail-biting tie-breakers to eliminate her more experienced foe in straight sets.
However, Alexandrova avenged that early Grand Slam exit barely a month later, defeating the Briton 6-3 7-5 in their Qatar Open first-round match, despite managing just one ace compared to Raducanu's five.
We say: Alexandrova to win in three sets
Alexandrova would do well not to give Raducanu too many second serves to attack on Friday, but having failed to land more than 65% of her first serves in any of her three Madrid singles matches, that scenario seems unlikely.
The forward-thinking Russian should fight fire with fire, though, and given her vastly greater clay-court experience, the 21st seed has our vote to get the job done, but not without a few scares en route.
Ben Knapton
