Emma Raducanu marked her third main draw appearance at the Miami Open on Wednesday by registering her first win at the WTA 1000 event.
The former US Open champion eased past Japanese wild card Sayaka Ishii 6-2, 6-1, in just over an hour. Ishii is currently at a ranking best of 188th in the world after breaking into the top 200 last November. Raducanu managed to dominate proceedings with the help of 16 winners against 13 unforced errors. She also converted five out of her six break point opportunities.
“I’m very pleased to have got through that,” Raducanu said during her on-court interview.
“It’s not an easy first round playing someone a bit younger and dangerous. And in good form.
“I’m really proud of how I competed today and it hasn’t been easy for me coming into this, but I think I put out a really good performance.”
It is only the fourth match Raducanu has won this season and her first since Dubai. Her other two wins were at the Australian Open in January when she reached the third round before losing to Iga Swiatek.
The 22-year-old is also looking for a full-time coach following the departure of Nick Cavaday due to health reasons. She was training with Vladimir Platenik in Indian Wells but he was not seen watching her latest match. Instead, sitting in her player’s box were LTA coach Colin Beecher and Jane O’Donoghue, as well as her permanent fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura.
Radcanu will next take on sixth seed Emma Navarro, who at the start of this month won the Merida Open in Mexico. Navarro, who is making only her second main draw appearance in Miami, recieved a bye in the first round.
“It’s going to be an extremely challenging match,” the Brit admits.
“I think it’s a match where she’s probably in better form. So I think I can just go out and try and express myself and compete for every point.
“She’s a great person. I think on the tour, it’s probably one of the people that, you know, we would like warm to and say hi.”
Raducanu is one of two British women playing in the Miami Open singles tournament. The other is Katie Boulter.
