Miami Open: Emma Raducanu breezes into round two

Emma Raducanu breezed into the second round of the Miami Open with a commanding straight-set win against Japanese teenager Sayaka Ishii.

The British number two took just over an hour to progress 6-2 6-1 and will next face American eighth seed Emma Navarro.

Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, lost in the first round of Indian Wells earlier this month in what was her first match since the traumatic experience of dealing with a stalker at a tournament in Dubai.

This is also her first proper event with new coach Vladimir Platenik and the partnership is off to a promising start.

“I am really proud of how I competed. It hasn’t been easy for me coming into this but I feel I put in a good performance,” said Raducanu.

“I hadn’t won a match here before in my professional career. I am just so happy to now be able to score a win.”

There was a little hesitancy early on from Raducanu but she broke her opponent at the first time of asking and became stronger from then on.

Unforced errors also did not help Ishii’s cause, with the 19-year-old making 12 compared to six for Raducanu in the first set.

By then the damage was done and Raducanu made light work of her opponent, winning the next five games in a row before serving to seal the second set 6-1.