Emma Raducanu 'really proud' after winning 'unbelievable' Miami Open 2025 match against Emma Navarro
Published 21/03/2025 at 22:00 GMT
Emma Raducanu announced earlier this week that her brief partnership with coach Vladimir Platenik was ending, but she produced a storming performance to beat Emma Navarro at the Miami Open. Raducanu held her nerve to win two tie-breaks in the match. Afterwards, she admitted how proud she was of her fighting qualities as she made it through to the last 32 of the tournament.
Emma Raducanu of Great Britain reacts while playing against Emma Navarro of the United States in the second round on Day 4 of the Miami Open.
Image credit: Getty Images
Emma Raducanu shrugged off the departure of her coach and produced a brilliant performance to beat world No. 10 Emma Navarro to reach the last 32 of the Miami Open.
The Brit ended her two-week partnership with coach Vladimir Platenik earlier this week.
And despite being under major pressure at times on a hot Florida day, she finished in fine style for a 7-6 2-6 7-6 victory.
"I don't know what just happened - it was a match filled of ups and downs and shifts of momentum," Raducanu said.
"Emma is an incredibly tough opponent and it was difficult conditions. An unbelievable match.
"I don't know how I managed to pull that out, I'll probably have to speak to my team to get a debrief on that.
"I felt like in the second set my legs just stopped working and she was making me work so hard for every single shot, and it was really hot on court too.
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"I'm really proud of how I managed to find a third wind. I just kept on fighting. I literally played every point as if it was going to be my last.
"So I guess that's powerful within itself and today was proof of what you can do when you really put your mind to it."
The departure of Raducanu's coach came in a turbulent few weeks, after the former US Open champion was shaken as a man "exhibited fixated behaviour" towards her in Dubai.
"I used a lot of emotion in that third set, even though it maybe didn't look like it," she added.
"I've gone through a lot, and I told myself, you've gone through too much to leave it to her. It was pretty powerful I guess.
"I came here with someone and it didn't unfortunately work out but we put some great work in.
"I think certain things I'm able to do on court because of good work, also in the last few days I've got good friends here with me, who know my game so well.
"Trust your gut, trust your feelings. That's how I managed to get here, to be honest.
"I'd say this is No. 1 [victory for the year]. Emma is a top 10 opponent, she made me work hard for every single point. I had to fight, I had to scrap, be aggressive."
Raducanu saved two set points in the first-set tie-break before she won it 8-6. Navarro badly needed to step up a gear, and did so to level the match.
Raducanu had a medical timeout at the start of the deciding set. Navarro took the opening two games and was soon 3-1 ahead.
It looked ominous for Raducanu, but she then won four games in a row and served for the match at 5-3.
The Briton couldn't get the job done, however, and Navarro won two games in a row herself to serve for the match at 6-5.
Raducanu then produced some blistering groundstrokes when she needed it most in the next game to break to 15 and force a deciding set tie-break.
Raducanu then rose to the occasion in hugely impressive fashion to win the deciding tie-break 7-3. Her delighted celebration told the story - this is a big victory.
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