Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of the Miami Open in the second round, falling to Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova 3-6 6-4 7-5.
Raducanu battled hard on her Miami debut, but Siniakova produced a brilliant victory in just under three hours to produce her first win over a top-20 player.
“For me I think I was fighting more with myself than my opponent,” Siniakova said afterwards.
“I just went for it and I was just working very hard. I’m just so happy it worked.”
The 19-year-old US Open winner ramped up the pressure early on, forcing Siniakova to rescue six break points in her opponent service game to keep the score at 1-1.
But her resistance was broken in the fourth as Raducanu reeled off four points to move into a 4-1 lead.
Siniakova was visibly upset as she was struggling with a rib issue, but regained her composure and broke back to move within a game of the Brit.
Raducanu instantly responded by breaking the Siniakova serve for the second time and sealed the opening set at the first attempt.
Momentum was with Raducanu as she went a break ahead, but Siniakova pulled it back to make it 3-3 before going on to force a decider after winning a lengthy game on Raducanu’s serve.
Again, Raducanu broke Siniakova’s serve in the opening game of the third set, but Siniakova would not go away and fought back to 2-2.
Raducanu then seized the initiative as she broke again in the seventh game and it looked like she would wrap it up on her serve, but she double faulted on Siniakova’s break point.
And Siniakova would not look back after that and converted her first break point as Raducanu hit a loose backhand long.
WATSON STUNS SVITOLINA IN THRILLER
Britain’s Heather Watson is through to the third round after coming from behind to beat world No. 20 Elina Svitolina 4-6 6-4 7-6(4).
For Watson she rescued a match point en route to securing her first win over a top 20 player since 2020. It is also the first time she has won back-to-back WTA 1000 matches since Miami in 2016.
It is the first time she has won back-to-back matches on tour since the Birmingham Classic last summer.
Watson will play either Belinda Bencic or Marta Kostyuk in the next round.
“I just love it here,” Watson said afterwards.
“It feels like home, especially as I grew up playing in Bradenton at IMG academy. I’m really happy that I’m coming back into form this year.
“My fitness got me through the match at the end. I felt when I really needed it I just felt really strong out the corners and I was moving well.
“I’m really glad I held my nerve at the end and was able to get over the line.”
HALEP PULLS OUT WITH INJURY
Simona Halep, who reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last week and had a first-round bye in Miami, had to withdraw from the WTA 1000 tournament before her second round match against Daria Saville with a knee injury.
“I had been struggling with the thigh since my semi-final in Indian Wells and hoped it would improve, but I went for an MRI last night and unfortunately it showed a tear,” the two-time Grand Slam champion wrote on Twitter.
“My body needs time to heal and as a result I will be out of competition for three weeks.
“This means I have had to make the super tough decision to pull out of Miami, Charleston and Fed Cup.”
