18-year-old British Emma Raducanu reached the semi-finals of the US Open tennis grand slam, by defeating Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, who won the gold in the Tokyo Olympics.
‘Belinda is an incredibly tough opponent, so she was going to fight until the end, but I am just really pleased to have come through that,” Raducano said.
The British teenager became only the third player outside the top 100 to reach the semi-finals in New York, after unseeded American legend Billie Jean King in 1979 and Belgium’s Kim Clijsters on her way to the title in 2009.
‘It was a really tough match for me. I am just so happy to have come through and thanks so much for all of your support today’. She added.
Three other female qualifiers reached the semifinals of a grand slam in the Open Era, Christine Dorey at the Australian Open in 1978, Alexandra Stevenson at Wimbledon in 1999, and Nadia Podoroska at Roland Garros last year.
‘Seeing so many young players doing well shows how strong the new generation is,’ Raducano said.
This year’s tournament will witness the crowning of a player for the first time in the Grand Slam tournament after all previous winners were eliminated.
Raducano compensated for her 1-3 delay in the first set to win an exciting 6-3 victory after winning five consecutive games, while one break in the fifth game of the second set was enough to settle it and thus end the confrontation in her favour.
Raducano ended the match with 23 winning kicks and only 12 direct fouls.
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