Since this article was published, Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the tournament with a back injury.
British wild card Emma Raducanu begins her bid for Miami Open stardom on Tuesday, as China's Wang Xiyu lies in wait for their first-round encounter.
The victor of this opening contest - the first-ever WTA Tour meeting between Xiyu and Raducanu - will battle 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya for a place in round three.
Match preview
© Reuters
Now starting to become familiar with WTA Tour finals, Chinese 22-year-old Xiyu enters the Miami Open residing in 56th place in the world rankings and aiming to build on a positive period of progress since the latter stages of the 2023 season.
Xiyu made her first top-level trophy match and earned her maiden WTA Tour triumph on home soil at last year's Guangzhou Open, dropping just two games against Magda Linette en route to the title, before reaching the final of the ATX Open in Texas earlier this month.
The 22-year-old could not make it two-for-two as she fell to compatriot Yuan Yue in the showpiece event, after which her Indian Wells run ended prematurely with a three-set loss to France's Clara Burel, falling 6-4 2-6 4-6 in the first round despite triumphing in the opening set.
A former youth Olympics medallist who favours the hard court, Xiyu will match her best-ever result at the Miami Open should she send Raducanu packing on Tuesday; the 22-year-old made the second round in 2019 and 2023, losing to Petra Martic at that stage last year.
The world number 56's best Grand Slam result also came on American soil - she got as far as round three at the 2022 US Open before losing to Alison Riske-Amritraj, prior to which she earned a shock scalp over third seed Maria Sakkari.
© Reuters
Entering Tuesday's first-round tie 232 places below Xiyu in the WTA standings, Raducanu is still getting re-acclimatised to life on the tour in the wake of her injury-riddled 2023 season but has already laid down a couple of markers after her highly-anticipated comeback.
The former US Open winner advanced to the last 32 of the Indian Wells Masters - where she coincidentally enjoyed her best run in 2023 - earlier in March with a comfortable success over Rebeka Masarova and walkover win over Dayana Yastremska, earning herself a daunting date with Aryna Sabalenka.
The clash between two Grand Slam champions saw Raducanu hold her own against the ever-powerful Belarusian, but she eventually succumbed to a 3-6 5-7 defeat against the reigning Australian Open holder and heads to Miami yet to advance beyond the fourth round of a Masters tournament.
Furthermore, the Briton is also still waiting for her first triumph at this competition - she lost to Katerina Siniakova in 2022 as the 11th seed before succumbing to Bianca Andreescu's superiority last year - but from her five tournaments in 2024 so far, she has only fallen at the opening hurdle in one of them.
Ruthlessness has not come easily for Raducanu since her comeback, though, as she has only converted 39.1% of the break points she has fashioned in 2024, but the 21-year-old can be sure that the Florida faithful will be fully in her corner on Tuesday.
Head To Head
Xiyu and Raducanu are yet to cross paths on the WTA Tour and also enter the Miami Open boasting just the one title apiece, although the Briton's is far more noteworthy, as is her career-high ranking of 10 compared to her opponent's best of 49.
Raducanu also boasts an overall win rate of 65.6% in singles matches on the WTA Tour, compared to Xiyu's 59.2%, although the Chinese has played a total of 331 matches at the top level compared to just 157 for the wild card.
Xiyu's does boast the physical advantage over Raducanu, standing four inches taller than the Briton at 5ft 11in, and the world number 56 also plays left-handed compared to her opponent's right-handed game.
We say: Raducanu to win in three sets
Little can separate Raducanu and Xiyu on the serving front in 2024 so far, but the latter has been that little bit more clinical on break points and possesses a strong reach with her tall frame.
Raducanu can therefore expect a tough run for her money in her opening match, but with the 21-year-old starting to rediscover that winning feeling and looking good physically, we have faith in the Briton to book her spot in round two.
Ben Knapton
