US Open, women's singles: Emma Raducanu continues to march on
Britain youngster Emma Raducanu has reached the semi-finals of the 2021 US Open by beating Tokyo 2020 Olympics winner Belinda Bencic in straight sets. The 18-year-old Raducanu is yet to drop a set in the tournament as she won the match against 6-3, 6-4 against Bencic. Raducanu will face Greece's Maria Sakkari in the semis. Here are the details.
Raducunu becomes first qualifier to reach the last four
In only her second Grand Slam appearance, world number 150 Raducanu has become only the third woman ranked outside the top 100 to reach the semis of the US Open. Raducanu has become the first qualifier to reach the last four of the US Open. She is also the fourth female qualifier to reach any Grand Slam semi-final as well.
Sakkari reaches maiden US Open semis
On the other hand, world No.18 Sakkari advanced to her second major semi-final of the season and first in New York. She defeated No.4 Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the US Open. The 26-year-old Sakkari is also the first Greek woman to reach the US Open singles semi-finals. This was a third straight over a Top 10 seed as well,
More records scripted by Raducanu
She is the first British woman to reach a US Open semi-final since Jo Durie in 1983. Raducanu is the youngest British woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final for 46 years.
Key stats of the match
Sakkari lost just two points on her first serve (23 of 25). Notably, she lost just eight points on serve for the match, while breaking Pliskova early in each set to get a hold. Sakkari also won 22 consecutive service points. She finished the match with 22 winners to just 12 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Pliskova hit 14 winners to 20 unforced errors.
Sakkari speaks about Radacunu
Sakkari opened up on Raducanu, saying the latter deserves to be in the semis after having won all these matches. "She's a new player on tour so I don't know much about her," Sakkari said. "Obviously she's having the tournament of her life. She deserves to be here. She has won all these matches."
