Emma Raducanu vs Ekaterina Alexandrova Prediction 5/9/25 Rome Tennis Picks

Emma Raducanu and Ekaterina Alexandrova meet in the second round of the 2025 Italian Open Rome on Friday, May 9, 2025. Here’s our Emma Raducanu vs Ekaterina Alexandrova prediction. This preview will also include an Emma Raducanu vs Ekaterina Alexandrova pick.

Emma Raducanu Preview

Emma Raducanu kicked off her Rome campaign with a three-set win over Australian teenager Maya Joint. Playing in only her second clay tournament of the season, Raducanu was tested by the fast-rising Aussie talent, but weathered the storm to come away with her ninth win in 17 matches this year. Raducanu trailed 2-4 in the first set, but quickly regained the break back and broke Joint towards the end of the set and served for it to love.

There were a couple of breaks of serve from either player in the second set and it went into a tie-break. Joint lost just one point in the breaker to level the match. But it was in the deciding set where Raducanu’s experience and class shone, racing to a 5-0 lead before Joint’s late effort to salvage the match bore no fruit. Raducanu finished off the challenger 6-3. This was Raducanu’s first-ever win in Rome and improves to 2-1 on clay after losing in the second round of the Madrid Open two weeks ago.

Ekaterina Alexandrova Preview

Ekaterina Alexandrova is the 21st seed at the Italian Open. The Russian received a bye in the first round and will begin her campaign in the second round against Emma Raducanu. Alexandrova has played in the Rome main draw five times before this, losing in the second round stage in each of the last three years. Her best result was reaching the last 16 in 2021, and losing to Jessica Pegula.

Alexandrova has compiled an 8-3 record on clay this season with back-to-back semifinal runs in Charleston and Stuttgart. This past week, she advanced into the round of 16 in Madrid but surprisingly lost to Moyuka Uchijima. This represents an improvement from last year when she won just one match from seven.

Emma Raducanu vs Ekaterina Alexandrova Head-To-Head

Raducanu and Alexandrova have met twice on the WTA level. The head-to-head is tied at 1-1 with both matches featuring at least 21 games. This will be their first meeting on clay.

Emma Raducanu vs Ekaterina Alexandrova Prediction

Alexandrova has had some strong results on clay in each of her last three tournaments. But the one constant is the conditions of the three surfaces she has played. The green clay of Charleston, indoor clay of Stuttgart and the altitude in Madrid tend to favor powerful hitters like Alexandrova. So, it’s not a huge surprise to see her perform above expectations. Rome, however, could be the neutralizer to that efficient power as the slow courts will give Raducanu time to read Alexandrova’s groundstrokes. If anything, Raducanu is a player whose adaptability is an underrated part of her game and even with little match practice, she’s still tough to beat. 

Nur Said's Pick: Emma Raducanu in three sets