Emma Raducanu shares her go-to pasta order after winning week in Rome

ROME, Italy—It’s only her second appearance at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, but Emma Raducanu is starting to feel at home at the Foro Italico as she adapts a “When in Rome” mindset to her post-match meals.

“I’ve started having pasta!” the 2021 US Open champion revealed. “I don’t usually eat pasta but in Rome, I have it because I don’t feel bad after it. It’s quite good quality, as well. I’ve been having pasta, but no gelato yet.

“I love the pomodoro sauce. The tomatoes are so good here, and I love guanciale.”

Raducanu certainly earned her amatriciana on Sunday, rallying from a set down to defeat Veronika Kudermetova, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1, and secure a career-best result at a WTA 1000 on clay.

“I always said I think I have the potential to play really well on clay,” she said after her second round. “I don’t think I’m there yet but I’m slowly kind of finding my feet. As I kind of use my forehand, use the spin, the serve improves, I think I’ll be able to be really good on this surface. One benefit I do have is that I can play with variation and the courts, depending on time of day or opponent, I guess I can use it.

“I think now I’m exploring my creativity a bit more on the court,” she added this afternoon. “I think I got very boxed into a certain way of playing, which was aggressive, dominating, feeling like I’m an aggressive baseliner. But I think I have more tools at my disposal, so in practice these days, I’ve just been kind of messing around with the ball and seeing what I can do, how creative I can be.”

Injuries have largely prevented the 22-year-old from ever having a proper clay-court swing, showing flashes of her capabilities on indoor clay—reaching two quarterfinals the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix—but her efforts to become a more all-around player are paying off in Rome, where she’ll next face No. 3 seed Coco Gauff for a spot in the quarterfinals.

“I love Rome,” she said. “It’s a great city with amazing culture. I think if you look around, it’s one of the most beautiful places. With my game, I think I’m doing really well here; I’m putting things together a bit more. I think I’m exploring my variety but also, in my first two matches and the third set here, I had good ball speed and my forehand is also doing a lot of damage.”