Emma Raducanu is «eager» to return to Miami after receiving a wild card into the tournament’s main draw. On Thursday, organizers of the Miami Open announced Raducanu as the main draw wild card winner. Raducanu, 20, made her Miami debut last year.
In her Miami, Raducanu had a first round bye before losing to Katerina Siniakova in the second round. «Hi guys, I’m Emma. I’m really looking forward to coming to Miami for the 2023 Miami Open and hope to see you there.» Raducanu said in a video message posted on the tournament’s Twitter.
See you soon in Miami, @EmmaRaducanu! 😎
2021 @US open Champion has been awarded a wild card for this year’s edition. #MiamiOpen! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/pQHypHm475 — Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 2, 2023
Miami tournament director welcomes Raducanu to Miami
A year and a half ago, Raducanu grabbed all the headlines when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam.
Although Raducanu hasn’t been as successful since her US Open victory, she is a fan favorite everywhere she goes. James Blake, a former top-10 player who now serves as Miami’s tournament director, believes Raducanu’s «incredible story» warranted a wild card into the main draw.
“Raducanu is such an incredible story of what she did at the US Open, taking the world by storm like we haven’t seen since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon at such a young age and became a media phenomenon. She’s been a little tough ever since, but realistically for her age, she’s getting better and it turned out that she put in one of the best performances of her own in one of the biggest events on the calendar.
She keeps progressing. We are happy that she will be in Miami. With the success she’s had on hard courts, I hope she feels comfortable here,» Blake told The Miami Herald. Meanwhile, Raducanu hasn’t played since losing in the second round of the Australian Open to Cori Gauff.
Raducanu was scheduled to play in this week’s WTA 250 event in Austin, but withdrew due to tonsillitis. Raducanu will compete in both Sunshine Double events, as she is expected to return to action next week in Indian Wells.
