Emma Raducanu, 18, reached the US Open semi-finals with straight-sets win against Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic on Wednesday; Briton to face Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari in last four at Flushing Meadows
Thursday 9 September 2021 17:48, UK
Emma Raducanu says she is "enjoying the experience" after her record-setting run to the semi-finals of the US Open as she admitted she had booked her flights back to the UK before the tournament proper had begun.
Raducanu, 18, beat Olympic champion and Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic 6-3 6-4 on Wednesday to become the first qualifier to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows.
Competing in just her second Grand Slam and first overseas, she will rise to the cusp of the world's top 50 and surpass Johanna Konta and Heather Watson to become the British women's No 1.
"I have just been focusing one day at a time, taking care of each day," said Raducanu. "When you're playing tournaments, you just get into this sort of auto-pilot mode of your routines, recovering on the day off in between.
"I didn't expect to be here at all. I think my flights were booked at the end of qualifying, so it's a nice problem to have.
"I'm just really enjoying the experience. Out there on the court today, I was saying to myself, 'This could be the last time you play on Ashe, so might as well just go for it and enjoy everything'."
Raducanu is one of two teenagers into the last four in New York after matching Canada's Leylah Fernandez who has enjoyed her own breakout tournament.
Reflecting on her quick rise to prominence since her tour-level debut in June, Raducanu said: "I mean, I didn't compete for 18 months, but here I am, and it just shows that if you believe in yourself, then anything is possible."
Raducanu will play Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals, which will be played from midnight BST on Friday.
Handed a wildcard at Wimbledon earlier this summer, Raducanu captured the imagination of British fans then with her run to the fourth round but she has now backed it up with a series of performances that belie her inexperience.
Asked whether she believed she could win her first Grand Slam in the next few days, she said: "I mean, let's say I have a hunger to win every single match I play, so I don't want to get ahead of myself at all, because I just like to take it one day at a time.
"If I take care of what I can control, then that's going to give me the best chance.
"Until now, I think it's worked very well for me not getting ahead of myself, just focusing on one point at a time. It's got me to this stage, and I'm not going to change anything."
Raducanu trailed 2-0 in the first set against Bencic - as she did in her fourth-round win against Shelby Rogers - but once again recovered to dominate her opponent in front of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
In Bencic, Raducanu was facing a top-40 opponent for the first time in her fledgling career but she took control and left the Swiss increasingly frustrated as the match progressed.
"I think that the calmness and the mental strength definitely comes from my upbringing," Raducanu reflected of her performance.
"I think my parents have both instilled in me from a very young age to definitely have a positive attitude on court, because, yeah, when I was younger, it was definitely an absolute no-go if I had any sort of bad attitude. So from a young age, I definitely learnt that, and it's followed me until now."
Virginia Wade is the last British woman to win a major title in 1977 and, along with Tim Henman and Andy Murray, Raducanu sees them as "great role models and figures for me to follow".
Raducanu, who becomes the first British woman to reach a US Open semi-final since Jo Durie in 1983, is hopeful her success can help spur the current crop of players to bring the best out of each other.
"I'm sure we are all going to be just pushing each other up the ranks and with our own level," she said.
Former British player Barry Cowan on Sky Sports News
"It doesn't look like this is going to stop because she is just so comfortable in that environment.
"Emma, at 18 years of age, is so mentally strong. She has impressed absolutely everyone in the tennis world.
"When I look at the players left in the draw, it is always important to look at in context, she is not up against a Serena Williams who has won multiple majors.
"She is not in the men's competition where you have got Novak Djokovic lurking who has got 20 majors.
"Everyone left in the draw has no Grand Slams. We saw Bencic and [Raducanu's] previous opponent [Shelby Rogers] go a little weak at the knees because there is a lot of pressure.
"All of a sudden there is this kid from Great Britain, 18 years of age, nobody has heard of and they are not able to handle it when Emma is under the real pressure."
Annabel Croft, former British No 1, on Sky Sports News
"She has a lot of aggression. She is technically very sound but she is mentally very strong. She doesn't doubt herself, she goes for her shots and she is also extremely intelligent on the court.
"It is very similar actually to when Andy Murray first broke out onto the tour. He was very strong psychologically and you could almost see how he got under the skin of opponents and made them fold mentally even before some of the tennis had been played.
"It feels a little similar to that with Emma. She is dismantling players psychologically on the court."
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