Coco Gauff gives away the 'reason' why she was able to beat Emma Raducanu so comfortably at the Italian Open

Coco Gauff has reached the quarter-finals of the Italian Open, having just knocked out Emma Raducanu in the round of 16.

Gauff praised Raducanu before their encounter at the WTA 1000 tournament, which the American won 6-1, 6-2.

The fourth seed at the Italian Open, Gauff said her forehand was a ‘big weapon’ against Raducanu, who lost after one hour and 19 minutes.

She faced her toughest test on paper at the tournament against Gauff, having previously knocked out unseeded trio Maya Joint, Jil Teichmann and Veronika Kudermetova.

Gauff meanwhile, starting one round later than Raducanu, had overcome Victoria Mboko and 32nd seed Magda Linette.

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Coco Gauff shares how she comfortably beat Emma Raducanu at the Italian Open

The American now takes on seventh seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals, but has first shared insight into her victory over Raducanu.

Asked how she feels about her latest performance, Gauff said after the match: “Yeah, I feel really happy with how I played.

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“I thought overall I played a great match. Yeah, I think I really was the one dictating the match for the most part.”

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It was then put to her that her forehand was bouncing high, and Raducanu struggled with getting the ball in her hit zone.

Asked how happy she was about that and the development of the shot in general, Gauff said: “Yeah, yeah, I’m really happy.

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“I think today was the reason why I won the match. Yeah, especially on this surface I think I can do a lot with it.

“Yeah, I think today, I don’t know, I just felt better than the previous matches. It still feels so slow compared to Madrid, but I’m getting used to it with each match.”

Coco Gauff says why there were ‘ugly’ points in her win against Emma Raducanu

Gauff was certainly the favourite heading into the clash, with history also on her side having won their only previous meeting.

But both players have one Grand Slam title to their names, having both triumphed at the US Open once upon a time.

READ MORE: Coco Gauff shares the one piece of advice she gave Alexandra Eala as they play doubles at the Italian Open

And they were also impacted by the same issue in their latest meeting, with Raducanu mentioning that wind played a significant part in the match.

Asked if she felt that on court in Rome, Gauff responded: “It was super windy, especially like in the second set. It definitely did play a big part. I’m from Florida, so I’m used to kind of dealing with it, working with it.

“Sometimes you have to learn to just let go with the wind, know that you just have to kind of move that extra step.

“Some points aren’t going to be won in pretty ways, which a lot of points towards the end were won in ugly ways. That’s part of tennis in the wind. It’s not always pretty.”

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