The Miami Open draw is out and Emma Raducanu will start her third campaign at the tournament by taking on wildcard Sayaka Ishii.
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After pulling out of last year's Miami edition due to a back injury, the 2021 US Open champion is returning to the tournament this year. And in her opening match, she will meet Ishii for the first time in her career.
The Japanese - who is currently enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 188 in the world - was a semifinalist during the 2023 Australian Open girls' singles tournament. Since starting her pro career, the Japanese has mainly competed on the Futures level and last year she captured her first Futures title in Osaka.
In late 2024, Ishii also made her WTA debut at the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo after reaching the main draw as a qualifier. There, the world No. 188 upset world No. 23 Clara Tauson in qualifying before she went on to reach the quarterfinal. Unfortunately the 19-year-old, she was forced to withdraw from her Tokyo quarterfinal against Diana Shnaider.
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Before Miami, the rising Japanese star reached the semifinal at this month's Futures event in Trnava.
Raducanu isn't in great form and she definitely won't take Ishii for granted
After losing to Moyuka Uchijima in the Indian Wells first round, the former world No. 10 fell to a 3-6 record in 2025. To the Briton's defense, the conditions in Indian Wells were pretty rough day - and she acknowledged that - but also admitted that there were things she needed to fix in her game.
"I think I'll need to improve starting the point. I think that's a big part of tennis. I think I can do that a lot better. I think I could improve I guess being more aggressive and, like, having a better quality of shot going forward into the court more," Raducanu shared after her Indian Wells exit.
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"I think I could improve every area of my game, to be honest (smiling) after today's performance. But yeah, I think everything, to be honest."
In the past, Raducanu lost in the Miami second round in her 2022 debut and exited the event in round one the following year.
The Briton is the favorite to beat Ishi but she will definitely have to be cautious, considering that the Japanese already beat one notable name in Tauson.
