Miami Open: Andreescu beats Raducanu in battle of US Open champions, faces Sakkari next

Canadian Bianca Andreescu won against Emma Raducanu 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium on Wednesday.

The two were drawn against each other in Rome last year, but Raducanu had to retire with a back injury.

They battled for two hours and 33 minutes with Andreescu show more physical toughness in the final set to get through.

Andreescu lost a 25-point service game when Raducanu converted her seventh break point of the game for 5-3 in the second set, and it seemed like the Brit had the momentum as the third set began.

Andreescu – “It’s not over til it’s over”

But Andreescu saved three break points in the opening game of the final set and would eventually run away with the final four games to clinch her second win in two tries against Raducanu.

“I just kept telling myself it’s not over till it’s over,” she said. “Sometimes I tend to get maybe too ahead of myself, whatever you want to call it. So I just try to stay in the present moment and try not to drain my energy because that game was insane.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played a game like that in my life. I think somebody told me it was like 22 minutes or something like that. I mean, she played really, really well. I just had to stick with it. I stuck with the right tactics, as well, so that obviously helped.”

It was a tough draw for both this time round, after the Brit beat two top-50 players during her run to the fourth round in Indian Wells.

Andreescu, ranked No 31, will face No 7 seed Maria Sakkari next.

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Tennis Majors

Miami WTA 1000, other first-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Sloane Stephens vs. Shelby Rogers
• Anna Blinkova vs. Jule Niemeier
• Lesia Tsurenko vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Xinyu Wang vs. Anna-Lena Friedsam
• Anna Bondar vs. Taylor Townsend
• Sofia Kenin vs. Storm Hunter
• Marketa Vondrousova vs. Tatjana Maria: wednesday
• Robin Montgomery vs. Ana Bogdan: wednesday
• Fernanda Contreras Gomez vs. Sorana Cirstea: wednesday
• Madison Brengle beat Amanda Anisimova: 7-6 (5), 5-2 ret.
• Varvara Gracheva (Q) beat Maryna Zanevska: 6-1, 7-5
• Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat Dalma Galfi: 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• Karolina Muchova (Q) beat Jil Teichmann: 6-0, 6-2
• Erika Andreeva (WC) beat Ashlyn Krueger (WC): 7-5, 6-2
• Linda Noskova beat Lucia Bronzetti: 6-3, 6-4
• Viktorija Golubic (Q) beat Hailey Baptiste (WC): 7-6 (3), 6-1
• Evgeniya Rodina beat Bernarda Pera: 6-3, 6-4
• Viktoriya Tomova (LL) beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Q): 7-5, 6-2
• Laura Siegemund (Q) beat Mayar Sherif: 6-3, 6-4
• Katherine Sebov (Q) beat Linda Fruhvirtova: 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
• Tereza Martincova (Q) beat Tamara Korpatsch: 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Camila Giorgi beat Kaia Kanepi: 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4)
• Claire Liu beat Katerina Siniakova: 3-6, 3-3 ret.
• Elise Mertens beat Alycia Parks: 6-1, 6-4
• Rebecca Marino beat Yulia Putintseva: 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Anna Kalinskaya beat Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (WC): 6-4, 6-2
• Mirjam Bjorklund (Q) beat Jasmine Paolini: 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Xiyu Wang beat Brenda Fruhvirtova (WC): 6-0, 7-5
• Marta Kostyuk beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto: 6-3, 6-2
• Irina-Camelia Begu beat Alexandra Eala (WC): 6-2, 7-5
• Nao Hibino (Q) beat Danka Kovinic: 6-3, 6-3