"It was absolutely breathtaking": Former British number one believes Emma Raducanu is playing best tennis of her career

Former British number one Annabel Croft has stated that she has never seen Emma Raducanu play as well as she has been doing now. The 22-year-old, who was once regarded as the next big thing after winning the US Open at the age of 18 back in 2021, is currently taking part in the WTA 1000 event in Miami, where she cemented her spot in the fourth round after being awarded a walkover after her opponent, McCartney Kessler, was forced to retire because of a fitness problem.

The result is important for Raducanu, who came into the competition on the back of a disappointing outing in the last few events. In the last four events, she was knocked out after losing in the first round.

Her most recent outing was at the Indian Wells, where she was knocked out after losing in the first round to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2. Former British number one Croft has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis 365 where she stated that she has never seen Raducanu play as well as she is doing now.

“It was absolutely breathtaking right from the word go, just middling the ball, just beautiful ball-striking,” she said. “It started not just for the service games, but those returns of serve got into the head of her opponent. She just started outhitting her after one long exchange early on. You could just see the evaporation of confidence down at the other end. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her play quite that well the way that she did for those nine games.”

Raducanu is now set to face off against America’s Amanda Anisimova in the round of 16. The 23-year-old defeated Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in the round of 32 with a score of 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. It will be the second meeting between the two players. In the previous meeting, Raducanu came out on top.