In a striking showdown at the Miami Open, British tennis sensation Emma Raducanu displayed a performance that left her American opponent, Amanda Anisimova, reeling. The inevitably heated round of 16 encounter was temporarily halted after Anisimova sustained an injury, following a particularly grueling set where Raducanu outplayed her with a startling 6-1 victory, surrendering only nine points on the Butch Buchholz court.
A mere quarter of an hour into the match, Raducanu was already leading 5-1, a sight that prompted Sky Sports commentator Annabel Croft to observe Anisimova’s apparent defeat. “She is all over the place. That sigh says it all. Fed up out here. Not enjoying this. She’s being humiliated,” Croft remarked, capturing the American player’s evident disorientation on the court.
However, Raducanu’s relentless onslaught was briefly interrupted when Anisimova summoned the physio to her bench between sets. She sought treatment for her right wrist, an ailment already known before the match commenced, as she previously took a medical time-out for blisters during her win against Mirra Andreeva.
The situation with Raducanu escalated to another medical time-out as the physio worked on mitigating the discomfort in Anisimova’s right arm. Croft added during this interruption, “She was manipulating the wrist as well, which is actually quite painful.” She continued, “She’s giving it a good working over, stretching out all those tendons and ligaments. I have to say I think she looked completely all over the place.”
Croft also noted Anisimova’s struggle to counter Raducanu’s technique in the first set, suggesting that she appeared to lose interest. “She was getting irritated, and also the way her body language was, she was rushing through service games like she wasn’t ready or prepared to think about it or compose herself before the point. She is totally rattled emotionally.”
Despite the setback, Anisimova continued the match. Yet, Raducanu swiftly broke her serve once again, inching closer to a decisive win on her opponent’s turf. The British player began her Miami Open journey by smoothly defeating Japan’s Sakaya Ishii, followed by an outstanding second-round victory over eighth seed Emma Navarro. Raducanu then triumphed over another American, McCartney Kessler, leading 6-1, 3-0 before an injury induced a walkover.
Anisimova, the Miami Open’s 17th seed, had previously overcome Egypt’s Mayar Sherif in straight sets before outplaying Andreeva. Despite her medical time-out, she returned to the court to continue the match, only to call for the physio again in the second set.
Nevertheless, Raducanu emerged victorious with a 6-1, 6-3 scoreline, advancing into the quarter-finals. The British starlet’s impressive performance at the Miami Open signals a promising trajectory for her professional tennis career.
