Emma Raducanu strolled into the second round of the Miami Open on Wednesday, but compatriot Katie Boulter was swiftly beaten by home favourite Peyton Stearns.
Atoning for her early exit at the Indian Wells Masters a couple of weeks ago, Raducanu eased to a 6-2 6-1 victory over Japanese wild card Sayaka Ishii, her first win since beating Maria Sakkari in Dubai over a month ago.
However, British number one Boulter could not follow in Raducanu's footsteps, going down 4-6 2-6 to a fired-up Stearns in what was just her fifth match of a disrupted 2025.
After a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Moyuka Uchijima in California, Raducanu took just 65 minutes to dispatch world number 188 Ishii, serving six aces and converting five of her six break points.
Ishii did make a brief statement with a break back to love in the third game of the match before holding for 2-2, but a relentless Raducanu subsequently won nine games on the spin and required just one match point to seal the deal.
The 2021 US Open champion now faces a daunting second-round showdown against eighth seed Emma Navarro, whom she will face without coach Vlado Platenik, having split with the 49-year-old following a short-lived two-week trial period.
Stearns maintains 100% record over Boulter
© Imago
Later in the day, Boulter sought to avenge two previous losses to world number 43 Stearns, who got the better of the British number one in Austin and at the US Open in the 2023 season.
However, the American would impressively maintain her perfect winning record against the world number 35, triumphing in straight sets with just one hour and 25 minutes on the clock.
A topsy-turvy first set saw Boulter draw first blood with a break in game three, but Stearns quickly established a 5-3 lead before losing serve herself while trying to seal the first set.
Boulter could not make the most of that reprieve, though, as Stearns then took her first set point on the Briton's serve, before the pair traded breaks in the first three games of the second set.
More and more errors mistakes working their way into Boulter's game as the 28-year-old tired, though, and she was left to rue unforced errors as Stearns broke to love while the Briton was serving to stay in the match.
The American will now meet Belgian 27th seed Elise Mertens in the second round, and it will soon be the turn of the British men to try to make their mark in Miami.
Billy Harris takes on the USA's Eliot Spizzirri later on Wednesday, before Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley face Bu Yunchaokete and Benjamin Bonzi respectively on Thursday.
Ben Knapton
