Emma Raducanu Prevails Over Navarro In ‘Battle Of The Emmas’ Amid TC Brett Haber’s Harsh Commentary

The Battle of the Emmas between Emma Raducanu and Emma Navarro lived up to its catchy name.  It had ebbs and flows with both players showing some great shotmaking at different times in the nearly three-hour match.

Remarkable from Raducanu‼️@EmmaRaducanu down 1-3 in the third set, storms back to defeat Navarro 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(3)!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Yl6laOBBOg

— wta (@WTA) March 21, 2025

Raducanu won two tiebreaks in the first and third sets but suffered a letdown in the second set where Navarro played nearly flawless tennis.  Emma Raducanu looked lethargic at points in the third set; however, she pulled it together when she needed to.  The final score was 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. Emma Raducanu looked happy and relieved to secure the win.

Emma Navarro falls out of the Top Ten with the loss. Raducanu records just her third Top Ten victory in her career.

Tennis Channel’s Brett Haber Was Not Unbiased

Tennis Channel’s Brett Haber offered a rough commentary on Emma Raducanu’s game and went so far as to condemn her for not playing Wimbledon mixed doubles last summer with Andy Murray in his farewell.  Recall that she pulled out of that at the last minute and received a lot of backlash despite her desire to preserve her body for singles.  Haber also was harsh when she was going through a sluggish period.  He wondered why that could be when she had played so little this year.

On the other hand, he praised Navarro for her success in the sport while acknowledging that nepotism gave her an early opportunity for wildcards at her dad’s tournament, The Charleston Open.

As the match progressed, he had to backpedal on his Raducanu criticism and admit that she accomplished a big feat.

Emma Raducanu will face the winner of the McCartney Kessler and Linda Noskova match in the Round of 32 on Sunday.