She's in the US Open semifinals and still hasn't lost a set.
At 18, Briton Emma Raducanu dazzled the American Grand Slam tournament with her talent and precocity.
By dismissing the Swiss Belinda Bencic, seeded n ° 11, she rallied Wednesday September 8 the semi-finals of the US tennis major, a feat never achieved by a player from qualifying in the Open era.
She faces, on the night of Thursday to Friday, the Greek Maria Sakkari for a place at the top.
Ahhh final four feeling !!
I can't believe it.
😳
Thank you all, see you out there tomorrow under the lights🌃 pic.twitter.com/AkHshFgrxH
- Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) September 8, 2021
A flawless and flawless course
Born in Toronto to a Romanian father and a Chinese mother, the British nugget has had an extraordinary tournament.
Since the qualifiers she had to go through due to her low WTA ranking, she has methodically defeated all those that have come her way.
In the round of 16, the 18-year-old Briton crushed (6-2, 6-1) the American Shelby Rogers (43rd), who had yet created a surprise in the previous round by eliminating the world No. 1, the Australian Ashleigh Barty.
In the previous round, she had almost humiliated the Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo (41st world) with a "double bubble" in front of a conquered audience (6-0, 6-1).
His latest victim, Belinda Bencic, semi-finalist at the US Open in 2019 and Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo, had yet ideally entered the quarter-final by putting pressure on him with an entry break.
However, the tennis prodigy has found the mental resources to overthrow her opponent and win the last four.
We are in the last 🎱 of the @usopen 🗽 Thank you to everyone for your continued support!
pic.twitter.com/2bLqZt6Y9Z
- Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) September 7, 2021
The fact is unheard of at the US Open, but it is also very rare in other majors, since the young woman is only the fourth qualifier to reach this stage, after the Australian Christine Matison Dorey in Melbourne in 1978. , the American Alexandra Stevenson at Wimbledon in 1999 and the Argentinian Nadia Podoroska last year at Roland Garros.
At Wimbledon, the pressure was too much
The revelation of the tournament, present on the professional circuit since the end of 2019, had seen its flash ascent stopped because of the Covid-19 crisis.
She took advantage of the period to devote herself to her studies and pass the British equivalent of the baccalaureate.
Relieved of this constraint, she was invited to the Wimbledon tournament where she was talked about.
For the first Grand Slam of her career, the one who then stood at 338th place in the world reached the round of 16.
But dizzy and plagued by breathing difficulties, she was forced to give up against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (6-4, 3-0).
The next day, she will explain on her Instagram account having "probably mismanaged (her) stress by playing in front of such a large crowd".
"I think that the whole stake caught up with me. After the first set and intense exchanges, I started to breathe painfully and to feel dizzy", explained the young player.
Since then, the Briton has learned to cope with the pressure, as her performance against Belinda Bencic proved on Arthur-Ashe center court at New York's Flushing Meadows.
"I think I play better here than at Wimbledon," she commented from New York.
"The sequence of games and the experience I have gathered over the past four or five weeks have helped me improve my game game after game."
The circuit is ecstatic
Tour watchers are won over by the performance of the British nugget and his energetic and domineering style, based on powerful flat strikes from the baseline and two-handed backhand.
“Emma's progress has been spectacular because that's what she is on the pitch, every day. Her mindset, drive and ambition is screaming, her work ethic is relentless. She wants to be the best. and try to win every point ", testifies Jamie Delgado, the coach of Andy Murray, who has done several training sessions with her this winter.
Moreover, the British star also follows his performances closely.
Let's go @ EmmaRaducanu👏🔥
- Andy Murray (@andy_murray) July 1, 2021
For former Czech champion Martina Navratilova, there is no doubt: "She is a superstar in the making. We don't want to put too much pressure on her, but she has this thing that we saw the first time at (Rafael) Nadal, (Novak) Djokovic and we see at (18-year-old Spaniard) Carlos Alcaraz. It's there, before our eyes. She was born for that. "
For Virginia Wade, the last Briton to have her name listed in the US Open (1968), the talent of Emma Raducanu is beyond doubt: "There are a few categories with which I evaluate players, has t "She told the British press. The athleticism, the determination, the focus, the ability to improvise. Emma ticks all the boxes. I would just like to see her come to the net a little more often. [...] She could Even go on and win this tournament. You look at her and you're like, “Why not?” she notes.
Youth in power in the female table
Leylah Fernandez is Flushing's other female sensation at 19.
She successively dismissed the defending champion, the Japanese Naomi Osaka (3rd), the German Angelique Kerber (17th) and, Tuesday evening, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (5th), each time raising a set.
"She is a great player. She fights for every point. She plays well, she is very mobile and I know she will have nothing to lose," said Aryna Sabalenka, who further expects this. that "the public support her very strongly".
The Belarusian, who hopes to do better than at Wimbledon where she was stopped in the semifinals, quietly passed her laps and even made quite an impression.
Teenagers' Time!
🤯 @ EmmaRaducanu will play @usopen semifinals!
What a great achievement for the young English star!
🤯
📸 of Emma playing #LesPetitsAs in 2015!
pic.twitter.com/u2RGIHF4U3
- Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste (@LesPetitsAs) September 8, 2021
Faced with two opponents admittedly much better classified, but hardly used to opening the doors to a Grand Slam final, Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu, who have crossed paths on the courts since childhood - "in the under 12s , we played the Orange Bowl and other tournaments, in juniors at Wimbledon, too, "said the Briton - do not feed any complex.
"We really want to make a difference in the world of tennis," Leylah Fernandez said Tuesday night.
"We want to make an impact on tennis. This tournament just proves how adaptable we are to everything."
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