Tennis
Emma Raducanu battles back in third set to upset American eighth seed Emma Navarro after almost three hours at the Miami Open; watch all the action from the Miami Open on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, NOW and the Sky Sports app
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Friday 21 March 2025 21:06, UK
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Emma Raducanu produced an inspired performance to upset American eighth seed Emma Navarro 7-6 (8-6) 2-6 7-6 (7-3) in an epic second-round contest at the Miami Open on Friday.
Raducanu, playing at the Miami Open having ended her trial with coach Vladimir Platenik after only two weeks, breezed through her opening match against Sayaka Ishii on Wednesday, having exited Indian Wells in the first round earlier this month.
Ahead of her match with American eighth seed Navarro, Raducanu was seen hitting with Mark Petchey. The former coach of Andy Murray was also in her box for the clash which went the distance.
2021 – Emma Raducanu wins the US Open.
2025 – Emma Raducanu records her first career top 10 win on hardcourt.
Speaking to Sky Sports’ Laura Robson, Raducanu said: “I’m really proud of how I managed to find a third wind – I was absolutely exhausted. Just keep fighting… I literally played every single point like it was going to be my last so that’s powerful in itself and today was proof of what you can do when you put your mind to it.
“In the third set, I used a lot of emotion even though it maybe didn’t look like it. I’ve gone through a lot and I kind of told myself you’ve gone through too much to leave it to her. I was just fighting every single point. I was going to take it like every point depended on it.”
She added: “That was number one [in matches ranked this year] because Emma is a top 10 opponent. I haven’t beaten a top 10 opponent this year. That’s my first one and she made me work so hard for every single point. I don’t think the whole match was pretty but I had to fight, I had to scrap, I had to be aggressive. There’s no way I was going to beat her by trying to out-rally her.”
Raducanu came out striking the ball clean against Navarro, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open, and after repelling two set points in the tie-breaker, she snatched the opener to continue her resurgence in form.
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The former British No 1 was unable to continue her attacking gameplan, though, with Navarro quickly levelling up.
Raducanu then took a medical timeout for blisters before the start of the deciding set and after going close to falling 4-1 down, the 22-year-old found a second wind to win four games in a row, although she was unable to serve out the match.
But Raducanu struck again to send a tension-filled contest into a deciding set tie-break which she dominated to record her first top 10 win on a hardcourt.
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Jamie Delgado, who is currently coaching former world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov, spoke about Raducanu’s coaching situation.
She is being helped by mentor Jane O’Donoghue and Lawn Tennis Association coach Colin Beecher after ending her trial period with experienced Slovakian Platenik.
Delgado told Sky Sports Tennis: “It’s never the best time to change a coach or change a set up during a tournament. You want that in the off-season so you can get to know the person a bit but it clearly didn’t work out with Vladimir Platenik the last couple of weeks and Mark at least is someone familiar to her. He’s helped her in the past a few times when she was younger and a bit older, so that could be a nice initial feeling for her to get some form back.
“She’s got people around her that she likes, that she trusts, and she’s played very good tennis with these people around her before so that can spread confidence. I’m sure having got through that first match she’s had a big lift the last couple of days.”
Speaking about what Raducanu will be looking for in a coach, Delgado added: “She’ll be after somebody with that consistency and familiarity in the long-term. I don’t know what Mark’s commitments are with TV, he’s obviously busy as well. It’s something that’s worked for her in the past and in the short-term it could help her this week.”
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