Emma Raducanu overcame a spell of dizziness to push fourth seed Jessica Pegula to three sets before losing in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open.
Raducanu, who was playing in the last eight of a WTA 1000 event for the first time, fell 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2, to the American. During the second set, the Brit failed to convert four set points when leading 5-2 before calling for a doctor to the court. She then had her blood pressure taken and was given an ice towel before resuming the match. Despite the scare, she held her nerve to preval in a tiebreaker before getting edged out in the decider by Pegula.
“I just felt really dizzy. I felt faint,” Tennis One quoted Raducanu as saying after.
“I don’t know, it was very humid out there and we have a long wait, so maybe just an accumulation, and just physical points as well and there were long rallies and heavy conditions, but….yeah I don’t know how I kind of regrouped in that second set, but in the third I definitely struggled a little bit.”
Despite her defeart, Raducanu can draw plenty of positives from her time in Miami where she won four main draw matches in a row at the same event for the first time since winning the 2021 US Open. Two of her victories were over top-20 players Emma Navarro and Amanda Anisimova.
The 22-year-old is now set to re-enter the top 50 on Monday heading into the upcoming clay swing. So far in her career, she has reached two WTA quarter-finals on the surface which were both in Stuttgart.
“I’m not sure. I think I need to just take a beat and kind of just re-evaluate what I’m doing,” Raducanu replied when asked what her next tournament plans are.
“This week it was good, but I need to just kind of figure things out and then I’ll make a plan from there.”
Meanwhile, Pegula is through to her third Miami semi-final in four years. She will next take on wild card Alexandra Eala who has produced a series of stunning upsets in the draw by beating three Grand Slam champions, including Iga Swiatek in her latest match. Eala had only won two WTA main draw matches coming into this year’s event.
“It was tough. I played a good first set, a little let down in the second, got it back, went up 2-0 in the tie-break, but it kind of flipped.” Pegula said of her win over Raducanu.
“She started moving the ball really well, serving good. Sometimes it just happens but I just wanted to come out in the third really strong, really quick, and just kind of jump on her and not keep the third set too close.”
Pegula is bidding to win her fourth WTA 1000 title and her first in America.
