In her third appearance at the Miami Open, Emma Raducanu secured her first victory, overcoming 19-year-old wild card Sayaka Ishii 6-2, 6-1 in just 65 minutes.
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The former US Open champion will next face No. 8 seed Emma Navarro in the second round, marking her first encounter with a Top 10 player since her loss to Iga Swiatek in the Australian Open third round.
‘It’s going to be an extremely challenging match,’ Raducanu commented in her on-court interview. ‘She’s probably in better form, so I can go out and express myself and try and compete for every point.’
In her previous Miami Open experiences, Raducanu faced two three-set defeats – against Katerina Siniakova in the 2022 second round, and against Bianca Andreescu in the 2023 first round. However, against Ishii, the match was straightforward. The Japanese teenager, who has climbed from No. 381 to her current No. 188 in the past year, was participating in her third WTA main draw, previously reaching the Tokyo quarterfinals last October.
Ishii displayed her potential with powerful forehands early in the match, but Raducanu countered with an almost perfect serving performance, delivering six aces throughout the match. Ishii struggled to maintain her initial aggression, accumulating 24 unforced errors.
Mboko brings hot form to tour level in style
Another teenage wild card, Victoria Mboko, also celebrated a victory, winning an exciting three-set match against Camila Osorio 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in 2 hours and 32 minutes.
The 18-year-old Canadian has been in excellent form at the ITF level in 2025. Across tournaments in the Caribbean, Georgia, England, and Portugal, she has already won five titles, bringing her season record to 28-1. Currently ranked No. 162, her match against Osorio tested her ability to transition her ITF success to the WTA tour against a renowned competitor. Mboko excelled, securing both her first Top 100 win and her first WTA main-draw victory (after a previous loss to Rebecca Marino at Granby 2022).
The match was full of momentum shifts. Mboko’s impressive hitting led her to a 5-2 lead in the first set, but she needed five set points to close it out as Osorio fought back. In the second set, Mboko recovered from an early break, highlighted by a remarkable rally and a decisive smash. However, the Colombian persevered to force a deciding set.
Mboko’s resilience in the third set was evident, as was her ability to fend off Osorio in the final stages. Despite Osorio leveling at 3-3 after Mboko missed a chance to lead 4-1, the young player regained control. Osorio attempted to use drop shots to turn the tide, showcasing her renowned fighting spirit.
However, the teenager edged ahead to 5-3 again and clinched a memorable victory on her first match point when an Osorio backhand went wide. Mboko’s next challenge will be against a Top 20 player for the first time in her career when she faces No. 10 seed Paula Badosa in the second round.
Rupert Caldwell