Emma Raducanu became the first 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.
Just two months after her breakthrough run to the round of 16 in her Grand Slam main-draw debut on home soil at Wimbledon, the World No.150 Raducanu is now into the final four of a major in just her second appearance.
ALSO READ: Barbora Krejcikova felt ‘humiliated’ by Muguruza
“Let’s say I have a hunger to win every single match I play,” the 18-year-old Raducanu said.
And then there were four. pic.twitter.com/8SKs5SB6d2
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2021
“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.”
Upgrade your serve with our FREE guide
The Brit will take on Maria Sakkari in the semifinal.
Sakkari advanced to her second major semifinal of the season and first in New York, defeating No.4 Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4.
ALSO READ: ‘So unprofessional,’ Muguruza tells Krejcikova
The 26-year-old is the first Greek woman to reach the US Open singles semifinals.
Teenagers will now feature in both of Thursday’s semifinals: Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who turned 19 on Monday, will face No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the bottom half of the draw.
Djokovic Grand Slam bid alive
Novak Djokovic defeated Matteo Berrettini 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in three hours and 30 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium to keep his Grand Slam bid alive.
Introducing the Final Four. pic.twitter.com/nMXGPeXIVX
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2021
The World No 1 nullified Berrettini’s thunderous serve and forehand with his superior movement and returns to enter the US Open semifinal.
ALSO READ: Sloane Stephens suffers abuse after losing at US Open
This was Djokovic’s third straight win over the Italian in majors, having beaten him in the quarterfinal of French Open and final of Wimbledon.
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev awaits in the semi-finals where Djokovic will seek revenge for his Tokyo Olympics semi-final defeat to the 24-year-old.
ALSO READ: Stars missing from this year’s US Open
“He’s in tremendous form, he’s been winning a lot. After Wimbledon I don’t think he’s lost a match,” Djokovic said.
“Winning gold in the Olympics, winning in Cincinnati pretty comfortably, he moved into the semi-finals here… We played a month ago in Tokyo. I was a set and a break up and he managed to turn that around.”
ALSO READ: Naomi Osaka to take an indefinite break from tennis
Zverev extended his winning streak to 16 by beating South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4 in the US Open quarterfinals on Wednesday.
