Emma Raducanu produced another brilliant performance to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open for the first time in her career after her opponent McCartney Kessler of the US retired with a back injury while Raducanu led 6-1, 3-0.
Two days after registering one of the most impressive wins of her career, a dramatic three-set tussle versus the world No 8 Emma Navarro, Raducanu returned to the court radiating confidence and she performed at an excellent level until the end of the match. By reaching the round of 16 in Miami, Raducanu has equalled her best result at a WTA 1000 event.
In theory, this was supposed to be a significant challenge against one of the fastest rising players on the WTA. After spending her formative years in college, Kessler only started her full-time professional journey in the 2023 season and she has since risen from outside of the top 900 into the top 50, winning two WTA titles in recent months.
From the start, however, Raducanu refused to allow Kessler to breathe. As both players wrestled to control the baseline and take the first strike in the rallies, Raducanu settled down quickly and returned serve spectacularly, robbing time from Kessler with her relentless return depth and aggression.
“I think my movement is pretty good right now,” Raducanu said. “I think I’m defending better. I think I’m returning really well. I’m pretty happy with most areas of my game. It’s just something that I’m looking to trying to keep improving.”
Her continued improvements behind her serve were even more notable. While she has struggled with her serve in recent months, Raducanu registered her first hold of the match with three consecutive aces. As she further settled down, Raducanu struck the ball cleanly off both wings as she rolled through the match.
As a victory for Raducanu became increasingly likely, Kessler called for the trainer down 6-1, 3-0. After a brief conversation, the match was over.
On the eve of this impressive run, Raducanu had opted to end her trial coaching period with the experienced Slovak Vladimir Platenik. She has been encouraged in her matches this week by a variety of familiar faces, including the former player and family friend Jane O’Donoghue, who she has likened to a big sister, the LTA coach Colin Beecher and Mark Petchey.
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Regardless of the people around her this week, on the court Raducanu has resembled a former top 10 player more closely than she has for a long time.
As she reflected on another strong performance, she credited a relaxed approach for her performances this week. “I think it’s a different approach this week. Five minutes before the match, I was playing spikeball with the team. It helps me to relax. When I’m playing my best tennis, I’m really expressing my personality and myself. I’d say I’m a bit of a free spirit. I don’t like restrictions or being told what to do so I think when I’m really authentic, that’s when I’m playing my best.”
Iga Swiatek continued to build momentum and confidence as she reached the fourth round with a hard-fought 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory against Belgium’s Elise Mertens, the 27th seed.
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Throughout an extremely tight opening set, Mertens demonstrated her intelligence and resourcefulness as she made life difficult for the second seed. In the tie-break, however, Swiatek rose to the occasion and then played a brilliant second set to seal the victory.
“I’m happy that I kept my focus and I knew in the first set my serve wasn’t working perfectly but I’m glad that I was patient enough to work for it,” the Pole said. “In the second set I felt much better.”
With this victory, Swiatek is the first player in history to reach the round of 16 in 25 consecutive WTA 1000 events since the category was created in 2009, a reflection of her peerless consistency.
Meanwhile, Alexandra Eala, a 19-year-old wildcard ranked No 140, became the first Filipino tennis player in the Open era to defeat a reigning grand slam champion as she toppled the Australian Open winner Madison Keys 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Novak Djokovic, the men’s fourth seed, later reached the second week with a 6-1, 7-6 (1) win over Camilo Ugo Carabelli as he tries to find his feet after a rocky start to the season.
