Emma Raducanu was drawn against a qualifier in the opening round of the Italian Open, but that was not necessarily a guarantee of a dream draw.
Maria Sakkari and Ajla Tomljanovic were among the big names who made progress through qualifying in Rome, but 2021 US Open champion Raducanu has avoided a match against either of them.
Instead, she will face Australian teenager Maya Joint, who will be looking to build on the momentum she has built up over the last 18 months.
Joint achieved a career-high ITF junior ranking of world No.25 in early 2024 and she started the 2024 season ranked No.684.
By May of last year, she had broken into the world’s top 200 and she has kicked on once again in 2025, winning her first clay court match on the main WTA Tour at the Madrid Open last month.
The Queenslander outlasted Spanish wildcard Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to get into the second round in Madrid.
That win came just five days after her 19th birthday and it meant Joint became the youngest Australian to win a WTA match at WTA 1000 level, surpassing a record set by former Grand Slam winner Ashleigh Barty, who won at the Miami Open in 2017 when she was 20 years and 330 days.
Joint then turned in an impressive performance as she lost against No 11 seed Emma Navarro in the second round, with the 7-5, 7-5 scoreline confirming she was competitive against a player who has been in the top 10 of the WTA Rankings.
She will come into the match against Raducanu in a positive frame of mind after a good run of results in 2025 that has included a wildcard appearance at the Australian Open, where she lost 6-3, 6-0 against No 7 seed Jessica Pegula in her first round match.
While Joint is one of the rising stars of the WTA Tour and has boosted her live WTA ranking to a career-high of No 73 after coming through qualifying, this has to be seen as a good draw for Raducanu as she looks to get some wins on her least favourite surface.
Raducanu will be confident of beating join and setting up a second round clash against
“It’s a good challenge for my game,” said said as she spoke about playing on clay in an interview with Sky Sports Tennis.
“I want to work on doing things differently to try and bridge the gap between where I am now and where I want to be.
“I’m going to use the season to take pressure off, try and be more aggressive and play the way I want to more so, so it can help me on the other surfaces.
“I had some time off after Madrid and I’m working on feeling a bit more comfortable on this surface. I don’t think I’m fully there yet, but I’m just putting in the hard work and keeping going.
“It’s a good challenge for my game. I want to try and bridge the gap from where I am now to where I want to be.
“I just want to use this season to take the pressure off and play the way I want to so it can help me on the other surfaces.
“It is exciting, it does feel like a bit of a fresh start with the way I am approaching everything, with the people I have around, with my mindset and outlook.
“I feel more optimistic, I feel pretty positive about things going forward. I’m just taking it day by day and trying to stay consistent.”
The winner of the match between Raducanu and Joint will face world No 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second-round, with the favourable draw giving the British star a chance to pick up some valuable wins in a tournament where big ranking points are available.
