"I had to be aggressive": Emma Raducanu ranks win against Emma Navarro 'number one'

Britain’s Emma Raducanu has stated that she would rank her win over America’s Emma Navarro as ‘number one’ this year. The 22-year-old was once regarded as the next big thing after winning the US Open at the age of just 18 back in 2021.

Since then, however, things have remained very tough for the former world number 10, largely because of fitness concerns. She returned to the court late in 2023 but has found it hard to produce positive results consistently. This year has been no different as well for the one-time Grand Slam winner, who, before coming to Miami, was knocked out from the first round of the competition on four occasions.

However, on Friday, Raducanu produced an outstanding display of tennis as she defeated America’s Navarro with a score of 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. Talking after the match, the Toronto-born star stated that she would rank her win as the ‘number one’ win this year, largely because she finally managed to beat a top-10 opponent.

“I would say number one because Emma is like top-10 opponent,” she said on Sky Sports. “I haven’t beaten a top-10 opponent this year. That’s my first one. She made me work so hard for every single point. I don’t think the whole match was pretty but I mean just the way taking into account, I had to fight, I had to scrap, I had to be aggressive because there was no way I could beat her trying to out rally her because she would had me all day in that rally.”

Raducanu is now set to face America’s McCartney Kessler in the round of 32. The 25-year-old secured her spot in the third round of the competition after beating Linda Noskova with a score of 2-6, 7-5, 7-6. It will be the first meeting between the two players in professional tennis.