Emma Raducanu has injected some positive momentum into her 2025 season with her two victories at the Miami Open.
The world No 60 started her campaign at the WTA 1000 tournament with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 first round win over 19-year-old Japanese wildcard Sayaka Ishii.
The 2021 US Open winner then edged out world No 10 Emma Navarro 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(3) in a thrilling second round contest lasting just short of three hours.
This was Raducanu‘s third career triumph against an opponent in the top 10 of the WTA Rankings and first on hard courts.
The Brit will face a fellow unseeded player — world No 48 McCartney Kessler — in the third round in Miami.
McCartney Kessler – a player on the rise
Kessler — who was born in Calhoun, Georgia — was a three-time All-American and three-time First Team All-SEC player in college tennis at the University of Florida.
The 25-year-old made an outstanding ranking jump from 217th at the start of 2024 to 67th at the end of the season. She secured her maiden WTA title at the Tennis in the Land WTA 250 event in August last year.
Kessler has continued to make impressive strides on the WTA Tour in 2025, having added her second title at the Hobart International in January and finished as a runner-up at the ATX Open in March (both WTA 250 tournaments). All three of her finals to date have been on hard-court.
The American also upset world No 3 Coco Gauff 6-4, 7-5 in the second round of the WTA 1000 event in Dubai in February.
Kessler is currently one place below her career-high ranking of 47th — a position she reached in January after her Hobart title win. She is up to a projected new career-best of world No 42 in the live rankings.
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The 5ft9in right-hander earned hard-fought three-set wins over two Czech opponents to progress to the third round.
Kessler downed world No 50 Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the first round before overcoming 31st-ranked Linda Noskova 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 in her second round match.
When will the Raducanu-Kessler match take place?
The third round (last 32) contest between Raducanu and Kessler, which will be the first meeting between the two payers, will take place on Sunday March 23. The order of play for Sunday is yet to be announced.
What did Raducanu say about Kessler after her win over Navarro?
Asked for her thoughts about taking on Kessler in a Tennis Channel interview, Raducanu said: “I know she’s a really tough opponent.
“I just saw the end of her match in Dubai with Coco, so you know, she’s been playing really well and winning a lot of matches recently, in great form.
“So again, it’s a match where I know I’m gonna have to be at my best to kind of get through and have a chance. But I think for now, I’m just really happy with my performance today.”
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