Emma Raducanu soars into US Open semis

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Britain’s teenage tennis prodigy Emma Raducanu has soared into the US Open semi-finals after thrashing Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic in straight sets, following Billie Jean King as one of three women outside the top 100 to reach the semis.

The 18-year-old from Kent, who caused a sensation at home and abroad after becoming the nation’s golden girl at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, clawed her way back from 3-1 against Swiss player Bencic and won decisively with 6-3, 6-4. 

The 150th-ranked Raducanu follows tennis legend Billie Jean King and 2009 champion Kim Clijsters as the only women outside the top 100 of the rankings to reach the US Open semi-finals, making her a contender for victory on the biggest stage in tennis.

Canadian-born Raducanu, who wasn’t even ranked inside the top 350 just three months ago before a run to the fourth round of Wimbledon, became the first qualifier in US Open history to reach the last four with another outstanding display against Bencic.

Having steamrollered her way through the draw so far, her performance today – breaking 11th seed Bencic once in the first set and twice in the second with few unforced errors – Raducanu will play No 4 Karolina Pliskova or 17th-seeded Maria Sakkari in the semifinals.

Raducanu was born in Toronto in 2002 to a Chinese mother and Romanian father and the family moved over to England when she was two. She first picked up a racquet aged five and played at Bromley Tennis Academy from the age of ten. 

After the match she told Amazon Prime: ‘Of course, playing Belinda, she is such a great opponent and is in great form, she hits the ball so hard, I had to adjust and adapt and it was a really tough match. I am so happy to come through and thank you so much for all your support today.

‘I have an absolutely amazing team and I have a team back home who could not be here – I am sure they are watching, I hope!

‘Thank you so much everyone, I wish you could be here with me but everything we have been working for has shown here.

‘It was 0-30 in my last couple of service games so to hold was pretty big, it was one point at a time and trying to focus on what I can control – Belinda was going to fight to the end but I am really pleased to come through that.

‘To have so many young players here doing so well shows how strong the next generation is – everyone is on their trajectory, so I am just here doing what I can control and it is my own journey.’

Raducanu made a tentative start, losing her opening service game and falling 2-0 behind, but she held her nerve and broke back in the sixth game to draw level at 3-3.

She then played her best game, on serve, to go in front for the first time at 4-3 and began to find her range and rhythm.

A superb forehand winner gave Raducanu another break point in the eighth game and she clinched it with the help of a net-cord in the next rally.

Bencic, the 11th seed, found herself under increasing pressure as Raducanu closed in on the first set and the Brit held serve to take a one-set lead.

Raducanu spurned a chance for two break points in Bencic’s opening service game in the second set as the Swiss produced a brilliant backhand pass and then took the next two points to hold.

Bencic then fashioned two break points of her own in her bid to wrestle back the initiative, but Raducanu stubbornly refused to be broken.

The Olympic gold medallist, who had won 13 of her 14 previous matches heading into the last-eight clash, comfortably held to love to edge 2-1 in front.

Raducanu levelled it up after hitting her fourth ace on a crucial point at 30-30 after two forehand winners from Bencic had put her in the ascendancy.

The Brit then cranked it up as a brilliant forehand return gave her two break points and she sealed her second break of the match as Bencic buckled with a double fault.

Bencic was up against a wall and a net-cord took her forehand out as she trailed 40-15 on Raducanu’s serve, to give the teenager a 4-2 lead.

Another double fault from Bencic in her next service game gave Raducanu break point, but the Swiss hit back with three quality winners to hold and trail 4-3.

Raducanu was 30-0 down on her next service game but, with the aid of four straight errors from her opponent, moved 5-3 ahead and edged closer to the finish line.

Bencic produced an ace to hold serve and keep her hopes alive at 5-4, with one more chance to break Raducanu, who served for the match.

Raducanu then double-faulted to trail 0-30, but won the next two points and delivered an ace to give her match point.

Bencic then hit a forehand into the net as Raducanu secured a semi-final clash against either fourth seed Karolina Pliskova or Greece’s Maria Sakkari.

She had been forced to retire during the second set of her Wimbledon clash with Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic due to ‘difficulty breathing’, bringing her fairy-tale run at the grand slam to an abrupt end as her parents and thousands of spectators watched on.

Raducanu was taken off court requiring medical treatment after losing the first set 6-4 to Tomljanovic before retiring 3-0 down.

She appeared to be clutching her stomach during the second set before quitting the tournament to the shock of her fans inside and outside No1 Court. 

Raducanu had become the nation’s last hope of success at Wimbledon after British superstar Sir Andy Murray crashed out of the grand slam.

US tennis legend John McEnroe suggested ‘it got a bit too much’ for Raducanu after he told presenter Clare Balding that she buckled under the pressure and got ’emotional’.  

McEnroe said: ‘I feel bad for Emma, I mean obviously it got – it appears it got a bit too much, as is understandable, particularly what we’ve been talking about for the last six weeks. How much can players handle? It makes you look at the guys that have been around and the girls for so long, how well they can handle it. 

‘These guys that can keep their composure and the girls out there are absolutely amazing – so we have to appreciate the players that are able to do it so well and hopefully she will learn from this experience.’ 

Despite only making her first WTA Tour main draw appearance in June at the Nottingham Open, Raducanu has had previous success in youth competitions. 

During lockdown, she could be seen knocking tennis balls back and forth to her dad in the quiet cul-de-sac where the family live.

On her Instagram page, the rising star references her global roots listing London, where she lives now, Toronto, and the two cities where her parents are from – Bucharest in Romania and Shenyang in China.

Her dual heritage remains important to her and she’s spoken fondly of relatives across the globe, saying: ‘My grandma, Mamiya, still lives in central Bucharest. I go back a couple times a year, stay with her, see her. It’s really nice. I love the food, to be honest.

‘I mean, the food is unbelievable. And my grandma’s cooking is also something special. I do have ties to Bucharest.’