Italian Open: Emma Raducanu beats Veronika Kudermetova to set up meeting with Coco Gauff

Raducanu said on Friday that she was still “finding her feet” on the clay but her movement, particularly sliding behind the baseline, improved as the match progressed.

She often spoke to Mark Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue in her coaching box. Petchey offered vocal encouragement throughout the match.

She and Kudermetova exchanged early breaks before a sterling return winner from Raducanu allowed her to serve for the set at 5-4.

However, the Briton’s first serve percentage dropped and she handed back the break on a double fault, before Kudermetova won three games in a row to take the first set.

However, the Russian crumbled from there on.

An unfortunate bounce off a Raducanu shot wrong-footed Kudermetova in her first service game – and visibly annoyed, Kudermetova lost a 40-15 lead to suffer a break of serve, with her forehand in particular losing all timing.

Raducanu moved better, sliding in and out of the corners, and rushed her way through five games in a row before Kudermetova took a medical timeout.

The Briton was smart during that timeout, staying on the court and hitting balls rather than sitting down and risk losing rhythm.

When Kudermetova returned, Raducanu picked up where she left off, taking the set at the third opportunity through another Kudermetova error.