Tennis: Raducanu, Murray crash out in Miami
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Canada's Bianca Andreescu (left) shakes hands with Emma Raducanu of Britain after their match.
PHOTO: USA TODAY SPORTS
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MIAMI – It was a blow for Britain at the Miami Open as two of its biggest stars, Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray, both crashed out of the tournament on Wednesday.
Canada’s Bianca Andreescu won a first-round battle of former US Open champions, defeating Raducanu 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Two-time Miami Open winner Murray also lost in his opening round after a 6-4, 7-5 defeat by Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.
Andreescu and Raducanu, both born near Toronto and both of whom won the US Open as teenagers, battled for 2½ hours in an entertaining opening to the WTA and ATP combined tournament’s main draw.
The Canadian, ranked 31st in the world, struck the ball with confidence and freedom as she dominated the first set, but Raducanu regrouped and fought back in the second.
The 2021 US Open winner went 5-3 up in the set after an epic game which she secured with her seventh break point and went on to force a third set.
But Andreescu’s power proved to be too much for the tiring Raducanu, who had shown promising signs of an upturn in form by reaching the last 16 at Indian Wells.
“I thought it was a very good match from both sides. I think Emma played really well. I think the key for me was just sticking with it, fighting as much as I could,” said the 2019 US Open champion, who struck seven aces.
“I kept telling myself it’s not over until it’s over and I also stayed positive. I tried not to drain my energy too much with focusing on emotions and all that stuff.”
The 22-year-old will have a tough test in the next round, where she will face seventh seed Maria Sakkari of Greece.
For Raducanu, though, there was yet another injury concern with her reporting pain with her wrist.
“It’s something I’ve been managing for some time. I just need to review after this tournament really and figure out what my next steps are,” said the 20-year-old, adding that she may get a fresh opinion on the issue.
“We have been managing it, keeping on top of it, so I’m able to play in the short term, but the current solutions aren’t very viable long term.”
World No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland withdrew from the tournament on Wednesday citing a rib injury, leaving the field open for a new winner.
In the evening session, Shelby Rogers bounced back from an off-key second set to beat fellow American Sloane Stephens 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Rogers broke serve for a third time on match point to defeat Stephens and set up a meeting with Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Rogers en route to the Australian Open title in January.
Americans Sofia Kenin, Taylor Townsend, Madison Brengle and Robin Montgomery, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, China’s Wang Xinyu and Czech Karolina Muchova were among those who also advanced at the WTA 1000 event on Wednesday.
In the men’s draw, Murray was well below par as he crashed out to the 76th-ranked Lajovic.
The Serb took his chances, winning 72 per cent of second-serve points and saved two of the three break points he faced, while converting all three opportunities on Murray’s serve.
At 5-4 down in the second, Murray showed his grit to break the 32-year-old and raise hopes of a comeback but he was quickly broken back as he paid the price for some mistimed strokes.
“Some days you don’t hit the ball your best but my movement wasn’t quite there,” said the 35-year-old, adding that he did not see such a setback on the horizon.
“I’ve been practising pretty well. It’s a very different court, very bouncy and much faster than last week (in Indian Wells), very different to the practice courts and... I just struggled a bit.” AFP, REUTERS
