Raducanu Reaches Maiden Fourth Round In Miami After Kessler Retires
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Emma Raducanu made it to the fourth round of the 2025 Miami Open after McCartney Kessler retired from their match in the second set.
During her tennis career, Raducanu has been part of many matches in which one of the players retired. Unfortunately, most of the time, it was the British player who had to end the match prematurely. That wasn't the case this time in Miami.
The 2021 US Open champion has been playing well at the fourth WTA 1000 tournament of the season so far. She had no issues against Sayaka Ishii in the opening round, and after that, Raducanu put together a very inspired performance to stun Emma Navarro.
Thanks to those wins, Raducanu set up a third-round meeting with McCartney Kessler, who eliminated Marie Bouzkova and Linda Noskova in Miami. The American player also recently played in the final at the ATX Open in Austin.
However, Kessler wasn't 100% healthy when taking on Raducanu. The British player used that to her advantage, dominating in the first set of the match. Raducanu started by breaking her opponent's serve, but she then lost her own despite being 40-15 up.
Still, that was only a minor issue that the Brit quickly solved by breaking Kessler's serve again. Raducanu then held her own serve and continued breaking and holding in the following games.
After 30 minutes of play, the 22-year-old British player won the first set of the match 6-1 without having too many issues. She then started the second set perfectly as well.
Raducanu won eight of the first nine points, and rapidly, she established a 3-0 lead in the second set of the match. Down 1-6 and 0-3, Kessler assessed that there was no way for her to come back with the physical struggles that she was experiencing, which is why she retired from the match.
Kessler's withdrawal sent Raducanu to the fourth round of the 2025 Miami Open. It also marked the first time this season that she managed to win three consecutive matches.
Of course, like any tennis player, Raducanu was disappointed about how the match ended, as she didn't want to see her opponent retire with an injury.
"It's never a way that any athlete, I think, wants to win a match. I wish McCartney a speedy recovery. She's in such a good form right now, playing so well, playing so aggressive. It's a tough physical sport, so I just wish her all the best, and thanks for the crowd, the support was great."
Now, the Brit will have to prepare for a proper test. Her fourth-round opponent will be the winner of the match between the 11th-seeded Mirra Andreeva, who won the WTA 1000 tournaments in Dubai and Indian Wells back-to-back, or the 17th-seeded Amanda Anisimova.
