Tennis
Emma Raducanu survives massive scare to win first match at Italian Open
Emma Raducanu survived a major wobble as she made a winning return to the Italian Open, playing the tournament for the first time in three years. The match was on her racket as she served for it in the second set, but Aussie qualifier Maya Joint stormed back to force a decider.
Raducanu regrouped and, at the third time of asking, she served out a 7-5 6-7(1) 6-3 victory under the floodlights in the brand-new SuperTennis Arena at the Foro Italico. However, Raducanu’s “informal” coach Mark Petchey did not appear to be in her box for the first-round match, with big sister figure Jane O’Donoghue sitting alone.
