MIAMI GARDENS: Britain’s Emma Raducanu won an epic battle over eighth-seeded American Emma Navarro at the Miami Open on Friday and said the win meant even more than some of her victories in her famous run to the 2021 US Open title. The 21-year-old, who became an instant sensation when she won at Flushing Meadows has had plenty of ups and downs in her career since but in a marathon two-hour 53-minute contest she answered any doubts about her grit with a 7–6 (8/6), 2–6, 7–6 (7-3) win.

“Today I completely left everything on the court. I think there were moments in the third set I thought I was completely down, completely out. I didn’t see a way back from it, to be honest, physically,” she said. “But then I managed to, I don’t know where, find a source of energy from and I think I was running on adrenaline...I’m really proud of how I fought,” she added. In the third set, Raducanu was broken for 5-4 and then broke back against Navarro, who was serving out at 6-5, she was able to find an extra push to win the tie-break.

Raducanu is now down at 60th in the world after spells of injury and disappointing results but she said the feeling compared, in some ways, to her US Open victory.

“It was a lot of emotions when I won. I know I won the US Open, but I think having been through so much in the last few years, it’s like the wins now mean so much more,” she said. “Not necessarily more in terms of magnitude, but I would say emotionally, just a lot more aware of all of the suffering as well, because, you know, when I won the US Open, I just won 10 matches in straight sets. I didn’t have, like, the losses, the downs, the months of, like, losing streaks. “To come out of it now, I’d say it means a lot more than certain matches at the US Open, yeah,” she said.

Expectations

At times she has appeared to struggle with the high expectations that her maiden Grand Slam title brought while there have been a series of short-lived coaching changes. Her life took a more sinister turn in February when she was targeted by a stalker in Dubai. The man was escorted away by security, subsequently given a restraining order and banned from attending WTA Tour events.

Indian Wells was her first tournament back after that ordeal and she went out in the first round to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima. “I don’t think it’s been an easy couple of months. I have had a lot going on - on and off the court,” she said. “I think my goal is to just get to a place where I feel a lot more set and stable with my surroundings. This week I have amazing people who have known me for a very long time. I feel very secure and happy and wanting to fight for them, as well,” she said. In her Miami opener she beat another Japanese player in wildcard Sayaka Ishii and after battling her way past Navarro she will be up against American McCartney Kessler on Sunday. Raducanu said she is glad for the day’s rest and may use it to practice the American football skills that she is now using in her warm-ups. “I have been learning how to throw an American football pretty well this week. My trainer has been teaching me, he’s lived in America and knows how to throw it really well. I have just been working on tightening the spiral a little bit,” she said with a laugh. — AFP