Former world No 4 Greg Rusedski has assessed that Emma Raducanu will be under added pressure at the 2026 Miami Open due to the ranking points she is defending.
Raducanu moved up one place to 23rd in the WTA Rankings after reaching the third round at the Indian Wells Open.
The 23-year-old downed Anastasia Zakharova 6-1, 6-3 in her opening match in Indian Wells before she was hammered 6-1, 6-1 by world No 6 Amanda Anisimova in just 52 minutes.
The 2021 US Open champion was a quarter-finalist at the 2025 Miami Open, which remains her best result at a WTA 1000 event.
The Brit will, therefore, be dropping 215 points from her 2025 run in Miami, which means she is facing the prospect of a rankings drop if she falls early at this year’s event.
Main draw action at the 2026 Miami Open gets underway on Tuesday, and Raducanu will play either Sonay Kartal or Peyton Stearns in her opening match. She could then meet 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova if she reaches the third round.
Speaking on the latest episode of his Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast, Rusedski shared his thoughts on Raducanu ahead of the second leg of the US Sunshine Double.
“It will be interesting to see, because she’s back with Mark Petchey, who’s helping part-time with his TV commitments,” said the 1997 US Open runner-up.
“When you have to defend points, you really find out where you’re at, because that’s more pressure for yourself. And she doesn’t want to drop her ranking out of that top 32, because then she’s not seeded at all of the events.
“So I feel like it’s a big week and she’s talked about being more aggressive, taking the ball on. When she was with Mark [in 2025], she had natural gut in her racket — and he went full polyester, which means you don’t get quite as much pop, but you get more control and are able to hit through the ball.
“So it’s all these little combinations, so it’s going to be interesting, and some places, you just enjoy playing at, you feel comfortable.
“But don’t discount [Sonay] Kartal, she played very well in Indian Wells, so it’s not an easy [match]. When you’re playing your fellow Brit, that’s a popcorn match, that adds a little bit more stress if that happens, too. All these combinations don’t make it easy.”
Following Raducanu’s heavy loss to Anisimova in Indian Wells, Rusedski urged the former world No 10 to add more dimensions to her game.
“Well, you can’t have one game style. When her A-game is on, she can compete with the likes [of Anisimova] and try to hit through people,” said the former British No 1.
“You’ve got to have a B-plan, so when that’s not working, you need to bring somebody forward, you need to change it up.
“You also have to serve exceptionally well when you’re playing a big hitter, because if you don’t and they get the first strike, you’re on defence right away.”
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