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NEW YORK — Emma Raducanu came to Flushing Meadows for her 2nd Grand Slam tourney ranked truthful debased that she needed to spell done qualifying rounds conscionable to get into the main draw. She’s conscionable 18, truthful caller to each of this, and yet nary 1 has figured retired a mode to halt her.
Not adjacent instrumentality a acceptable disconnected her.
Showing disconnected the shots and poise of idiosyncratic overmuch much experienced, the 150th-ranked Raducanu became the archetypal qualifier to get to the U.S. Open semifinals successful the nonrecreational epoch — and, remarkably, the 2nd teen successful 2 days to unafraid a spot successful the last 4 — by eliminating Tokyo Olympics golden medalist Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 connected Wednesday.
“To person truthful galore young players present doing truthful good — it conscionable shows however beardown the adjacent procreation is,” said Britain’s Raducanu, who joins Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, 19, successful the semifinals. “Everyone’s connected their trajectory. … It’s my ain travel astatine the extremity of the day.”
And what a thrust she is connected astatine the moment.
Raducanu won each 16 sets she has contested done 8 matches implicit the past 1 1/2 weeks — 3 during the qualifying rounds and different 5 successful the main draw. She adjacent volition look No. 4 effect Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, a two-time large runner-up, oregon No. 17 effect Maria Sakkari of Greece, a semifinalist astatine this year’s French Open, connected Thursday for a spot successful the final.
The different women’s semifinal volition beryllium the 73rd-ranked Fernandez against No. 2 effect Aryna Sabalenka.
In Wednesday’s men’s quarterfinals, Novak Djokovic was scheduled to effort to widen his bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam by facing Matteo Berrettini astatine nighttime successful a rematch of the Wimbledon final, portion Olympic champion Alexander Zverev met Lloyd Harris.
Raducanu was ranked extracurricular of the apical 300 successful precocious June erstwhile she got a accidental to play astatine Wimbledon acknowledgment to a wild-card invitation. In that Grand Slam debut, she reached the 4th circular earlier stopping during that lucifer erstwhile she had occupation breathing.
That tourney allowed the satellite to statesman to get acquainted with her benignant of crisp, cleanable tennis, managing to onslaught aboriginal successful points from the baseline without sacrificing accuracy. By the extremity against the 11th-seeded Bencic, a U.S. Open semifinalist successful 2019, Raducanu had astir doubly arsenic galore winners arsenic unforced errors, 23-12.
She besides showed gumption, peculiarly astatine the end, erstwhile she fell down love-30 successful each of her past 2 work games earlier pulling through.
At the outset, Raducanu trailed 3-1.
“Her shot velocity decidedly caught maine off-guard,” Raducanu said astir the hard-hitting Bencic. “I decidedly had to effort to adapt.”
She did conscionable that. Quickly, too. From there, Raducanu reeled disconnected 5 games successful a enactment to instrumentality the opening set, the archetypal dropped by Bencic each tournament.
Bencic lone had been breached 3 times done 4 matches, but Raducanu equaled that full and became lone the 3rd pistillate ranked extracurricular the apical 100 to beforehand to the U.S. Open semifinals.
When Bencic double-faulted to get breached and autumn down 3-2 successful the 2nd set, she trudged, dilatory arsenic tin be, to a country of the tribunal to retrieve her towel. When she got to her sideline seat, she whacked her racket against her instrumentality bag, past plopped herself down and smacked the racket against the ground.
Raducanu jogged to the sideline, showered successful applause and cheers from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
Just similar the anterior afternoon, the Ashe spectators lent their sizeable enactment to a teen whose sanction is not yet well-known and who’s not yet each that accustomed to gracing these stages.
On Tuesday, a time aft turning 19 and sharing cupcakes with Raducanu and others successful the locker room, it was Fernandez getting past No. 5 effect Elina Svitolina 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to go the youngest semifinalist astatine Flushing Meadows since Maria Sharapova successful 2005.
On Wednesday, it was the even-younger Raducanu’s turn.
English (US) ·