Fantastic ball striking from both and it was patient play from Raducanu as she waited for the short ball, capitalising with a huge forehand winner.
She then fires back a great return right at Gauff's feet to give herself a break point.
But strong defence, an ace and a wild return off the serve sees Gauff get out of trouble from 30-40 down.
Gauff gets an early break.
Raducanu has been unable to get on the front-foot early and tremendous depth from her opponent forces her into two poor mistakes during that game.
We are underway on the Grand Stand Arena in Rome.
With Raducanu's attacking style and Gauff's shaky forehand on the clay this week, it is no surprise to see Emma target it early.
But Coco holds serve with the help of an ace at 30-30.
Raducanu has faced Gauff just once in her career - back in the 2023 Australian Open second round.
Gauff won in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 that day, though Raducanu came in with an injury problem.
Raducanu is enjoying her tennis at the moment and has come through three matches to get to this stage with wins over Maya Joint, Jill Teichmann and Veronika Kudermetova in Rome.
It comes after a strong run to Miami Open quarter-final. Yet her previous tournament on clay in Madrid last week saw her get a tough draw and lose to Marta Kostyuk.
As for Gauff, she is still waiting for her first title this year.
The world No3 has not had the best year by her high standards but was runner-up in the Spanish capital last Sunday.
Welcome to the Italian Open and what a clash we have in store.
Two Grand Slam champions go head-to-head as British star Emma Raducanu faces American hero Coco Gauff in the last-16 at the WTA 1000 competition.
We have every point from Rome coming your way this afternoon.
