Emma Raducanu, the first British player to win a Grand Slam in women's tennis, has failed to fulfil her promising start since that US Open victory in 2021, but after a disappointing run the past months, she has a good chance of gaining back some confidence, as she has reaches the round of 16 in Miami Open, for the first time winning three consecutive matches at a WTA tour since last summer at Wimbledon.
It took a bit of misfortune from her rival, McCartney Kessler, who retired after 43 minute due to lower back injury, but Raducanu was dominating, 6-1, 3-0 when the match was halted, and she was granted the victory. Previously, Raducanu, World No. 60, defeated World No. 8 Emma Navarro.
On WTA.com, Raducanu said that "I'm very happy obviously to be in this position. It's never the way you necessarily want to win, but I think I did a really good job to stay focused during the match."
"It's been an incredibly difficult few years for me," Raducanu said. "I don't think I'm necessarily out of the woods - I'm still figuring things out. I'm just happy with this week how I've been able to leave things off the court, go on the court with a pretty clear head and fight for every point".
There's still a long way in the Miami Open. Raducanu has only one a singles title, and had a career best ranking of 10. Next up, she will face Amanda Anisimova at 19:00 GMT, 20:00 CET on Monday.