MIAMI -- There were tears in Emma Raducanu’s eyes after her 7-6 (6), 2-6, 7-6 (3) victory over No. 10-ranked Emma Navarro on Friday.

And while the resume says the 2021 US Open title is her lifetime achievement, afterward Raducanu said this grueling, nearly three-hour match at the Miami Open was probably the most satisfying.

“Yeah, it was a lot of emotions when I won,” Raducanu told reporters in a post-match press conference. “I know I won the US Open, but I think having been through so much in the last few years, it’s like the wins now mean so much more.”

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In some ways, that US Open win came too fast and was almost too easy. In less than three weeks, Raducanu won a total of 10 matches and was the first qualifier of either gender to win the US Open. She was 18.

That touched off a feeding frenzy with sponsors that wanted this dashing new personality from Great Britain to represent their high-end products. Raducanu signed deals worth tens of millions of dollars, but that only increased the pressure created by her stunning achievement.

Her PIF WTA Ranking cracked the Top 10 in the summer of 2022, but a wild series of debilitating injuries followed. At one point in 2023, Raducanu missed eight weeks following surgeries on both wrists and an ankle. At the end of the year her ranking had plummeted to No. 285.

Her coaching situation became unstable; she’s parted ways with eight since winning in New York.

But after winning a first-set tiebreak and seeing Navarro come fighting back, Raducanu, now 22, found something in herself. Considering the kind of player Navarro has become, this was remarkable.

Going back to last year, no one has played more three-set matches (35) and won more (24) than Navarro. She loves a good, long fight. The 23-year-old American had won six of seven matches this year that went the distance. And then Raducanu, playing with a confidence reminiscent of 2021, closed the door.

She was aware of Navarro’s third-set prowess.

“I think I knew that going in,” Raducanu said. “So I knew that I was going to have to win every single point. It was very difficult, because I was serving for it at 5-3, and then Emma played amazing tennis, as well. Then again, I was Love-30 on her serve at 5-4, and she pretty much played like four unbelievable points.

“Today I completely left everything on the court. I think there were moments in the third set I thought I was completely down, completely out. I didn’t see a way back from it, to be honest, physically. But then I managed to, I don't know where, find a source of energy from, and I think I was running on adrenaline.”

There were patches in the match, Raducanu said, where she was playing too defensively. In the big moments in the third set and that last tiebreak, she made the decision to go for it.

“I actually was just, like, `If I’m going to go out, I’m not going to let her take me out -- at least I’ll put everything on it.’ I know that’s how I’m most successful is when I’m taking the shots early and really going for it. It’s just a better feeling in a way to not have any regrets.

“Even when I was going for it and missing certain drive volleys, for example, in big moments after a very long point, as frustrating as it is, I knew I was doing the right thing.”

This was a full-on Emma Fest: The first time two players with the same name, the statisticians tell us, faced each other at the Miami Open since ... well, we're going to let you guess:

Jessica Pegula, who was playing the next match on Grandstand, watched some of the match and said she was happy for Raducanu. 

“When she’s playing at a top level, she belongs with the top players,” Pegula said. “I just think she struggled a little bit with injuries, finding consistency. It’s tough nowadays, the depth is so good if you can’t really rack in those matches and play a lot and get those wins under your belt it can be really difficult to keep that confidence.

“I can understand why she was probably a little emotional. Winning two matches at a WTA 1000, beating a Top 10 player -- that’s massive. Sometimes it takes a physical and mental battle to get through that. And in that moment, you’re thinking, `My gosh, how am I going to do this? Not again?’ For her to come back in the third and win the tiebreaker. I’m sure she feels like there’s a monkey off her back.”

This was Raducanu’s first career match-win on hard court against a Top 10 opponent and only her third ever.

“I would say not necessarily more in terms of [the US Open] magnitude, but I would say emotionally, just a lot more aware of all of the suffering as well,” Raducanu said. “Because, you know, when I won the US Open, I just won 10 matches in straight sets.

“I mean, I didn’t have, like, the losses, the downs, the months of, like, losing streaks. I think to come out of it now, it does, yeah.”