Questions have regularly been raised about Emma Raducanu’s career. Is she a one-hit wonder? Will her rough patch ever be over? And there seems to be an answer finally. The Brit, who won the US Open as a qualifier in 2021, appears to be regaining her form. The 22-year-old, who has battled injuries, coaching woes, and a traumatic stalker experience in the recent past, has managed to progress to the third round of the Miami Open. That too by defeating the 8th seed in a thrilling Emma vs Emma clash. She toppled Emma Navarro 7-6,2-6,7-6 in R64 to secure her first-ever victory in the Miami Open. Raducanu never won a match in the previous editions of the tournament. So it’s obvious that this moment is special for her.

Before the deciding set, things looked bleak when Raducanu called for a medical timeout due to foot blisters. However, she bounced back to win the third top-10 win of her career and the first outside of a grass court.

Talking about the match in a post-match conference she revealed the emotions that went through her after she hit a powerful forehand on her second match point. The World No. 60 said, “It was a lot of emotions when I won. I know I won the US Open, but I think having been through so much in the last few years, it’s like the wins now mean so much more.”

Raducanu even suggested that this win held more emotional weight than her US Open victory. She said, “Well, I mean, I would say not necessarily more in terms of magnitude, but I would say emotionally, just a lot more aware of all of the suffering as well, because, you know, when I won the US Open, I just won 10 matches in straight sets. It was, I mean, I didn’t have, like, the losses, the downs, the months of, like, losing streaks. I think to come out of it now, it does, yeah, I’d say it means a lot more than certain matches at the US Open, yeah.”

The No.2 British tennis player shocked everyone when she etched her name in history by winning the 2021 US Open as a qualifier. That win made her the only player in the Open era to win a Grand Slam singles title as a qualifier. However, just as she was being hailed as the next big thing, her struggles began.

Raducanu couldn’t replicate that sort of success going forward as her form deserted her and injuries started haunting her. When she returned as the defending champion at Flushing Meadows the following year, she faced a first-round heartbreak and then missed the entire tournament a year later in 2023 due to injuries. That year, she underwent surgeries on both hands and her ankle. When she made a comeback again in 2024, Raducanu had dropped so far in the rankings that the former World No.10 was out of the top 300.

The Brit tried to rebuild her momentum last year but her performance was still marked by inconsistencies. The 22-year-old achieved her first top-10 victory against Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne. She also made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon, defeating Maria Sakkari, but was eliminated in the next round. The US Open, however —once her happy hunting ground—ended in disappointment as she suffered a first-round exit.

Raducanu’s coaching woes have also contributed to her failing form. She has gone through seven coaches in four years and still finds herself without a coach at the Miami Open.

Emma Raducanu’s coaching woes continue at the Miami Open

Emma Raducanu has been without a permanent coach since Nick Cavaday stepped down following the Australian Open. She started a trial with Vladimir Platenik just before Indian Wells, where she fell in the opening round to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in straight sets. The plan was to continue working together until the French Open, but things didn’t go as expected.

Before heading to the Miami Open, she decided to part ways with Platenik. The Slovak coach later spoke to BBC Sport and pointed to “stress” and “pressure” as key reasons for their split. “Emma is stressed also about the newspaper article, so the agent made this comment: ‘It’s maybe a little bit unfortunate, but I’m not angry,’” Platenik said.

With no official coach in her corner, Raducanu was seen alongside familiar faces at the Miami Open. Jane O’Donoghue, her long-time confidante, sat next to Collin Beecher, the LTA women’s national coach, and her full-time fitness trainer Yukata Nakamura.

Amid the coaching uncertainty, the former US Open champion is set to face the American McCartney Kessler in the third round on Sunday. Can Raducanu step up and secure another win as she regains her form?