Jessica Pegula wasn’t really surprised to see Emma Raducanu upset world No. 10 Emma Navarro at the Miami Open as the 2024 US Open runner-up has no doubt that the Briton has the game to challenge the very best when she is at her best level.
Entering Miami, the 60th-ranked British tennis player had lost six of her past seven matches. But in Miami, she has been looking like a completely different player, annihilating Sayaka Ishii 6-2 6-1 and sending No. 8 seed Navarro home 7-6 (6) 2-6 7-6 (3).
Her second-round win was especially impressive, considering that Raducanu was playing against a top-10 player and that she didn’t allow the American to serve out for the match in the 12th game of the third set before dominating the tie-break. Also, the 22-year-old did it in front of Navarro’s home fans.
“When she’s playing at a top level, she belongs with the top players. I just think she struggled a little bit with injuries, finding consistency,” Pegula said of the Briton.
Pegula: Raducanu took a monkey off her back
In Miami, the 2021 US Open champion registered her first top-10 win on a hard court – her previous two top-10 victories came on grass last year.
A bit interestingly, Pegula was the first top-10 player to be beaten by Raducanu – the Briton upset the world No. 4 in Eastbourne last summer.
“I can understand why she was probably a little emotional. Winning two matches at a WTA 1000, beating a Top 10 player — that’s massive. Sometimes it takes a physical and mental battle to get through that. And in that moment, you’re thinking, `My gosh, how am I going to do this? Not again?’ For her to come back in the third and win the tiebreaker. I’m sure she feels like there’s a monkey off her back,” Pegula added.
Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded American could possibly meet Raducanu in the Miami quarterfinal.
Tennis World USA