Mirra Andreeva overcame a slow start and a stubborn opponent in Emiliana Arango to claim her 18th win at a WTA 1000 this season and reach the third round in Rome, while Emma Raducanu also rolled in straight sets.
The right handed player who turned 18 at the end of April earned a 6-2 6-4 second-round victory qualifier Emiliana Arango at the Internazionali d’Italia.
It probably took longer than the No. 7 seed Andreeva would have liked (89 minutes), but it was Andreeva’s very first main-draw win in Rome.
Opening up the court with three or four shots instead of the customary one or two, Andreeva would often win the point with a flat, fast backhand — or take a short ball with a forceful forehand.
Only World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has more victories (19) in WTA 1000s this year than Andreeva (18).
For someone so young, Andreeva has already developed a strong urge to win the matches she’s expected to. Arango, ranked No. 97, represented her ninth consecutive victory over a player ranked outside the Top 50. The last loss came to older sister Erika last fall in Wuhan.
Arango, who plays with her cap backwards, is now 0-3 against Top 10 players.
She’ll play No. 30 Linda Noskova in a third-round match on Sunday. Noskova was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Sonay Kartal.
Emma Raducanu, a former teenage phenom, was a tidy 6-2, 6-2 winner over lucky loser Jil Teichmann.
Raducanu served well, winning 33 of 52 service points, hit six aces and faced only one break point. It was Raducanu’s third match of the season on clay — and only the 20th of her entire career.
Raducanu originally was scheduled to play No. 21 Ekaterina Alexandrova a formidable opponent on clay with semifinal berths earlier this year in Charleston and Stuttgart.
But Alexandrova pulled out before the match with a right shoulder injury, replaced by Teichmann, who lost in the last round of qualifying to Hailey Baptiste 7-6 (6), 7-5.
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