It feels like Jack Draper won Indian Wells just a day ago, yet another ATP/WTA 1000 has already come and gone. On the courts at the Miami Open, there was less glory to be had than in California at the start of the month, but that doesn’t mean that the tournament was without excitement for the British following…
Most of the British representatives were out early on, missing out on an opportunity to move up the ranking tables in the second major of the month. This applied for most of the Brits, however, one took her opportunity, finally making her move back into the WTA top 50 for the first time since 2022.
Here is a brief discussion of how each British tennis player did in the WTA 1000 and ATP Masters Miami Open.
Katie Boulter
Boulter entered the Miami Open after a fairly disappointing showing at Indian Wells. There, she reached the third round but won just one match, having a bye through the Round of 64 due to her higher ranking.
After losing to seventh-seeded Rybakina in straight sets, Katie Boulter dropped in ranking slightly. This confirmed that she would not enter the Miami Open as a seeded player and that she could face highly ranked opposition in her opening match.
But it wasn’t a higher-ranked opponent that saw Katie Boulter leave the competition; instead, it was the WTA No. 43 Peyton Stearns.
Boulter, of course, entered the competition as the firm favourite and showed this early on with a 3-1 lead over the American. With the first set seemingly in the British number one’s control, Stearns managed to hold her following serve before converting her next two break point opportunities.
With the sets now 3-5 in favour of Stearns, Boulter had to take the next game. She earned what should have been a crucial game, but the American replied with another break point to win the winning set 4-6.
With two months until the start of Roland Garros, it now looks increasingly unlikely that Katie Boulter will find herself in a seeded position. Nevertheless, with two WTA 500s in Charleston and Stuttgart, and a WTA 1000 in Madrid, maybe Katie can find the form and ranking points to see her return to the top 32.
Billy Harris
A player not expected to be in Florida at all became the second Brit to exit the Miami Open. Billy Harris, now 30, is currently the British number four and has primarily competed on the Challenger Tour over the last year.
Harris was never going to be a favourite, but coming into the competition as a qualifier might have given him some belief that he could enter the competition and cause an upset.
The Brit got a favourable draw against Eliot Spizzirri, who was 27 ranks below Harris. Although favourable, the match was by no means one-sided.
It started with a tight set that involved five break points saved. Spizzirri, from Connecticut, had the crowd on his side and won a tie-break with ease. The second set saw Billy Harris win four games straight and the set 3-6.
Now, with a set apiece, the two players entered the third, with it all to win. The first four games of this set had some thrilling service play; both players earned multiple aces and scored 16 points from a serving position.
Whoever could improve their returns would win the match; that much was clear. The American was the one who took the opportunity and converted two break points to win the set 6-2.
Billy Harris will probably take great encouragement from Miami; just his qualifier will probably leave him ranked 103rd on the next rank update. A ranking that high would likely automatically qualify a player for the French Open main draw, and with the entry cut-off now less than a month away, Harris’s next tournament could be vital.
Cameron Norrie
Not much has changed for Cameron Norrie since his loss to Tommy Paul at Indian Wells. He suffered defeat in the opening round of the ATP Challenger tournament in Cap Cana, but what was more important for him was another ATP 1000 campaign.
He faced Yunchaokete Bu, from China, in the opening round. With the two fairly evenly matched, it seemed to be quite a difficult match to predict. Would Norrie‘s impressive career record in America make the difference, or would it be Bu’s youthful ambition?
It didn’t take long for the spectator to find out as Bu easily broke Norrie‘s opening serve. This proved to be the decider, with both players holding their serve for the remaining games of the first set.
The second set proved to be much like the first, with Bu breaking Norrie in the British player’s first service game. The difference this time is that Bu broke Norrie a second time in the fifth game of the set. The Chinese player swept Cam Norrie aside with ease and sent himself into the second round.
The tournament would have likely been extremely frustrating for Norrie. This is not only because of the lack of glory, but that it has greatly impacted his ranking, moving him uncomfortably close to leaving the top 100.
Jacob Fearnley
The rising British star, Jacob Fearnley, was the next to leave the Miami Open. After entering through the qualification rounds, he opened his competition with an impressive 6-3 6-3 win over Benjamin Bonzi, who ranked 20 places higher ahead of the Miami Open.
Unfortunately for Jacob, he faced Alexander Zverev in the next round. Zverev, the ATP No. 2, was the highest-seeded player in Miami; only the suspended Jannik Sinner ranked higher.
Fearnley swiftly faced defeat, losing 6-2 6-4 but holding a significant portion of his serves against a player considered by some to be the current best on the ATP Tour.
Exiting the competition in the second round meant that Fearnley’s rank would slightly increase, however, only by a marginal amount. The next ranking update will make him 73rd ranked in the world, the highest he has ever been. Perhaps more importantly, he will become the second-highest ranked British male singles player following Cameron Norrie‘s poor form.
The following month could be extremely important for Jacob Fearnley, with his first Roland Garros appearance looking incredibly likely. He impressed in Miami and was unfortunate to exit so early on, but Alexander Zverev is a force that so often wreaks havoc.
Jack Draper
The current golden boy of British tennis, who seems to be liked across the globe and impressing on every stage, entered the Miami Open in terrific form. Sadly, Jack Draper also looked rather fatigued.
It is no surprise that Jack Draper would be tired, though; he did just complete a string of victories against some of tennis’s finest at Indian Wells.
Draper arrived at Miami prepared to play his first match as a top 10 player, his high rank providing him with a bye to the Round of 64. He had a very winnable match against Czech 19-year-old Jakub Mensik, someone who Draper had previously dispatched on the Challenger Tour, winning in straight sets.
This time around, both players found themselves with much higher ranks than they did in 2023 and their abilities proved so. The two sets played included a stunning 33 aces, the Czech player earning 21 of those. With this in mind, it won’t shock anyone that only two break points occurred across the entire match, and that both sets ended in tie-breaks.
Jack Draper found himself on the losing end of both tie-breaks, losing the first 7-2 and the second 7-3. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t his competition, but with Indian Wells still fresh in the memory and another Grand Slam on the horizon, it’s hard to believe that Jack will be sulking about Miami for long.
Emma Raducanu
The highlight of the Miami Open from a British perspective is undoubtedly Emma Raducanu. Despite a turbulent couple of years with injuries and constant rotating coaches, Emma looked as if she was back to the confidence levels that she had following her US Open victory in 2021.
Raducanu has had a difficult opening few months to 2025, struggling emotionally after being targeted by a stalker, and once again parting with a coach for the second time in 2025. She entered the Miami Open without a coach, instead relying on the services she had available to her there and then.
With this in mind, it was understandable to expect Emma to leave early in the competition. She faced Sayaka Ishii (WTA No. 188) in the opener, sweeper aside the young Japanese player dominantly by converting five break points in the match, which lasted for just 65 minutes.
Now entering the second round, Raducanu had a ruthless mentality. She would have to defeat 8th seed Emma Navarro to advance to the last 32, though. Before this match, Emma Raducanu had defeated just two top ten opponents, both in 2024 and on grass.
The match couldn’t have been much tighter, with the Brit winning the first set by a lengthy 6-8 tie-break. The second set was less impressive from Raducanu’s perspective, losing it 6-2, however, the Brit had her excuses, though, as she required treatment for blisters on her soles before the third set began.
Whatever treatment she received worked wonders as she managed to not only complete the third set, which lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes, but to win another lengthy tie-break. This marked her third-ever top-10 win, and her first on a hard court.
“That was number one [win of the year] because Emma is a top-10 opponent,” Raducanu described the win against Navarro to Sky Sports. But it was just the second in a string of four difficult matches for the former British number one.
Against Kessler McCartney (WTA No. 48), Raducanu was the favourite despite her lesser rank. She thrashed McCartney in the first set 6-1 and won three games in the second before Kessler retired from the match. Then against Amanda Anisimova (WTA No.17), Emma once again dominated, winning in straight sets and only dropping four games in the short match.
The next, and ultimately final, match was against Jessica Pegula, who was the world number four. Pegula was the victim of Emma’s first win against a top ten player, the win sending her through to the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne International.
Pegula was the favourite for their third meeting, but Raducanu’s victory against Navarro made an upset a real possibility. The match was a real contest, and each player was serving exceptionally, committing just a single double fault across the entire match.
The service display gave way to a close first set, where the American would win by just a single break point.
The second was much of the same, but Emma managed to break first. Pegula, however, managed to break back to send the set to a tie-break, which the British number two comfortably completed.
The third set was the quickest of the match, and it went the way of the world number four, winning the match by two sets to one.
Although it was Raducanu’s fifth quarterfinal loss in the last year, it was also the most impactful. With the troublesome start to the year, all the signs pointed to a disappointing early exit. Instead, she gained her first-ever victory over a top ten player on a hard court, made it to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal, and was just a single set away from once again becoming the British number one.
With her performance against players outside of the top 10 being as dominant as it was here, it could be wise for Raducanu to skip the French Open and take on the WTA 250 in Rabat or WTA 500 in Strasbourg whose proximity to the Grand Slam on the calendar could provide lower ranked competition and the opportunity for vital ranking points.
Where will Emma Raducanu rank by the start of Wimbledon? Let us know on X or BlueSky @TheDeckNews. If you liked this article, then check out our recap of the British victory at Indian Wells.