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Raducanu beats Bencic, becomes 1st qualifier to reach US Open semis in Open Era


The stunning run by 18-year-old Emma Raducanu of Great Britain continued in New York, as she became the first women’s qualifier to make the US Open semifinals in the Open Era by dispatching Olympic gold medalist and No.11 seed Belinda Bencic, 6-3, 6-4, on Wednesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Just two months after her breakthrough run to the round of 16 in her Grand Slam main-draw debut on home soil at Wimbledon, World No.150 Raducanu is now into the final four of a major in just her second main-draw appearance.

Read more: Out of the spotlight, Raducanu engineers career surge in U.S.

Teenagers will now feature in both of Thursday’s semifinals: Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who turned 19 on Monday, also won her quarterfinal and will face No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the bottom half of the draw.

Setting records: Raducanu is the fourth women’s qualifier to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam event in the Open Era (since 1968). There is now one instance of that occurring at each of the four majors: she joins Christine Dorey (1978 Australian Open), Alexandra Stevenson (1999 Wimbledon), and Nadia Podoroska (2020 Roland Garros).

She is also just the third woman ranked outside the Top 100 to make it into the US Open semifinals, joining WTA Legends Billie Jean King in 1979 and Kim Clijsters in 2009. Both King and Clijsters were unranked in those instances; Clijsters went on to win the title.

Raducanu’s win is even more stunning when you consider her tilt against World No.12 Bencic was her first match against any player ranked inside the Top 40, let alone the Top 20.

But in only 81 minutes of play, Raducanu charged past the Olympic champion, improving to 6-0 against players ranked inside the Top 50. (Raducanu has won five matches this summer against players ranked between 41 and 50, including three in a row to get into the quarterfinals this fortnight.)

Stat corner: Raducanu has still not lost a set in her eight matches over the last two-and-a-half weeks, which includes her three qualifying matches the week prior to the event.

Raducanu was cleaner on the day than the more experienced Bencic, who was seeking her second trip to the US Open semifinals in her last two appearances (Bencic reached the semis in 2019 but did not play last year).

The British teen had 23 winners, nearly double her unforced error count of 12. Bencic, by contrast, had 19 winners and 21 unforced errors. Raducanu was also far more successful on break points, going 3-for-6, while Bencic could only convert one of her five.

Next up: Raducanu is now only one win away from becoming the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final. Her opponent will be determined tonight, when No.4 seed Karolina Pliskova and No.17 seed Maria Sakkari square off for the final semifinal spot. Raducanu has never faced either of those players.

More to follow….





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