Emma Raducanu scored her biggest win of the year with a stunning upset of world No. 10 Emma Navarro in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday.
The former U.S. Open champion fought back from 3-1 down in the decisive set to win an epic showdown 7-6(6) 2-6 7-6(3) and move into the third round of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time.
It was just the third time in Raducanu’s career that she had beaten an opponent ranked inside the top 10 and first time doing so on a hard court.
“That was number one [win of the year] because Emma is a top-10 opponent,” Raducanu told Sky Sports. “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.”
The 22-year-old’s win was made all the more remarkable by the fact she is without a full-time coach after it was confirmed this week that she had split with former coach Vladamir Platenik after just 14 days.
Against Navarro, Raducanu had British tennis veteran Mark Petchey, a former coach of Any Murray, sitting in her box.
“I came here with someone and it didn’t work out, but we put in some great work,” Raducanu said. “I have good friends here with me, who know my game and know me so well – it’s about trusting your gut and trusting your feeling.
“I think that’s how I got through to be honest.”
