Emma Raducanu’s nerves were tested by Maya Joint, a talented teenager from Australia, before she steeled herself to score her first-ever victory in Rome.
It had been a tit-for-tat exchange up until the deciding set, with Raducanu making most of the running but Joint refusing to give up easily.
Raducanu even wasted a golden opportunity to get the job done in straight sets. She was up at the net, with the score at 3-5, 0-30 on the Joint serve, and a juicy ball to put away. But the chance got away from her and so did the set, after the poorest tie-break she has played all season.