Emma Raducanu spoke about finding confidence on clay as Coco Gauff survived a stern test from Canadian rising star Victoria Mboko.
Starting with Raducanu, the Brit moved into the third round in Rome with a 6-2 6-2 win over lucky loser Jil Teichmann.
The world number 49 was supposed to play Ekaterina Alexandrova before Alexandrova withdrew from the tournament.
In recent years Raducanu has shown signs of playing well on clay but has never been able to put her game together.
Now the Brit believes she is getting more confident as she aims for a deep run at Roland Garros, “I always said I think I had the potential to play really well on clay,” Raducanu told the WTA website.
“I don’t think I’m there yet. But I’m slowly kind of finding my feet. As I use my forehand, use the spins, if the serve improves I’ll be able to be really good on this surface. One benefit I do have is I can play with variation.”
Next up for Raducanu is Veronika Kudermetova who is ranked one place below her in the world rankings.
Meanwhile Madrid finalist Coco Gauff survived a tough scare against Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko.
The American lost the opening set to the 18 year-old before prevailing 3-6 6-2 6-1 in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Next for Gauff will be 32nd seed Magda Linette who edged past Maria Sakkari in three sets.
There were also wins for Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva and Elena Rybakina while Bianca Andreescu scored a very big win over Donna Vekic.
