Emma Raducanu began her time on the east coast of the US on a positive note as she produced a calm, consistent performance to reach the second round of the Miami Open for the first time with a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Japanese wildcard Sayaka Ishii. Her victory sets up a second round match against Emma Navarro, the eighth seed.
“I was just so focused on every point and trying to compete,” said Raducanu. “That was my main objective today, just trying my best every point and bringing some energy, bringing some competitiveness. I think that’s maybe been missing in the past couple of months. I’m really proud of that. It’s just nice to win in two sets and less than twoand a half hours.”
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This was a kind opening-round draw for Raducanu. While Ishii has shown promise in her young career, reaching No 5 in the junior rankings two years ago, she is still quite far from competing regularly at the highest level. This contest was only her fifth match against a top 100 opponent, with only one victory. Ishii trains at the IMG Academy and received a wildcard in Miami since IMG owns the tournament.
During the early exchanges, Ishii showed glimpses of her potential, particularly her potent forehand, lasering flashy winners as she retrieved a break and levelled Raducanu at 2-2. That purple patch did not last very long. Just as it seemed as if she had settled into the match, Ishii’s level cascaded and she spent the rest of the contest hitting herself off the court.
To her credit Raducanu handled her business well and made the gulf in quality between the two players clear. In the face of an erratic opponent, Raducanu offered Ishii nothing. She remained consistent while mixing up the trajectory and spin on her strokes, extended rallies with solid defence and did not hesitate to step inside the baseline and take the ball early whenever Ishii dropped the ball short.
All wins are valuable, particularly for a player in difficult form. In recent weeks Raducanu has endured one of the toughest periods of her career in terms of results. Despite her attempts to compete more frequently this year and build momentum, she began the match having lost five of her previous six matches.
There have been obvious mitigating circumstances behind Raducanu’s form, particularly her well-publicised encounters with a stalker, who followed her from tournament to tournament in Asia throughout February. While Raducanu’s preparation for Indian Wells was less than ideal as she took time off the practice court after the ordeal, she has since had two weeks to train and ensure she was better prepared for the second half of the Sunshine Double.
Raducanu has also had to find a new coach since her previous one, Nick Cavaday, opted to part ways with her due to health issues after the Australian Open. That search continues. Raducanu had been on a trial run with the Slovak coach Vladimir Platenik at the beginning of Indian Wells, but their trial is over and on Wednesday he was not present in her box. Raducanu was instead joined by the Lawn Tennis Association coach Colin Beecher and Jane O’Donoghue, a former player and family friend who has helped Raducanu out from time to time in recent years.
With a solid performance and much-needed victory under her belt, Friday will provide Raducanu with better insight into her level as she faces off against one of the best players on the tour in Navarro.
