Great Britain's Emma Raducanu achieved a career first as she produced an exceptional performance to defeat Emma Navarro in the second round of the Miami Open.
The former US Open champion followed up her dominant first-round win over Sayaka Ishii with a phenomenal three-set success over Navarro, whom she bested 7-6[6] 2-6 7-6[3] in just under three hours.
Raducanu's astonishing success over the eighth seed marked a new zenith for the 22-year-old, as it represented the first time in her embryonic career that she had defeated a top-10 player in a hard-court match at the seventh attempt.
Raducanu had previously suffered six defeats from six hard-court matches with top-10 players - losing all of them in straight sets - and the highest-ranked player she faced en route to US Open glory in 2021 was then-11th seed Belinda Bencic.
The Briton heroically saved two set points in the first-set tie-breaker, but after a one-hour opener, Navarro came out all guns blazing and levelled the match after a second set which lasted just 36 minutes.
Raducanu ends top-10 losing run as Djokovic equals Nadal record
Emma Raducanu defeats the eighth seed Emma Navarro to advance to the Miami Open third round ✨pic.twitter.com/xgG7BCZKRz
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 21, 2025
The American also broke Raducanu straight off the bat in the second set, but the 22-year-old fought back for 3-3 before a chaotic ending ensued, where both players were broken while serving for the match.
However, Raducanu assumed control of the tie-breaker, and despite serving eight double faults on the afternoon, the ex-Grand Slam winner reached the third round for the first time in her career.
Raducanu will face the winner of Linda Noskova's battle with McCartney Kessler next up, and the 22-year-old could potentially find herself up against Indian Wells champion Mirra Andreeva in the last 16 should she progress that far.
Elsewhere on Friday, Novak Djokovic hit yet another Masters milestone, as the Serbian equalled Rafael Nadal's record for the most ATP 1000 match wins since the format's introduction in 1990.
Djokovic eased past Rinky Hijikata 6-0 7-6[1] for his 410th Masters win, and he could set a new outright record of 411 when he meets lucky loser Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the third round.
Ben Knapton
