NEW YORK -- Emma Raducanu arrived at Flushing Meadows to play in her second Grand Slam tournament. She was so lowly ranked that she had to complete qualifying rounds to be allowed into the main draw. This is her first Grand Slam tournament, she's only 18, and no one knows how to stop her.
You can't even take a set from her.
Raducanu, 150th ranked, showed the poise and shots of a more experienced player by becoming the first qualifier to reach the US Open semifinals. She also became the second teenager in just two days to qualify for the final four. Belinda Bencic, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, was eliminated 6-3,6-4 on Wednesday.
"To see so many young players doing so well -- that just shows how strong our next generation,'' stated Britain's Raducanu. He will be joining Canada's Leylah Farandez (19), in the semifinals. "Everyone is on their path. ... It's my journey at the end.
What a ride!
Raducanu won every set she contested in eight matches during the past week, including three during the qualifying rounds as well as five in the main draw. Next, she will play No. The Czech Republic's 4th seed Karolina Pliskova, a twice major runner-up and No. 17-seed Maria Sakkari from Greece, who was a semifinalist in this year's French Open on Thursday, will be competing for a place in the final.
The other semifinal for women will feature the No. 73-ranked Fernandez against. Aryna Sabalenka is the 2nd seed.
Raducanu, who was ranked outside the top 300 in June, got an invitation to Wimbledon as a wild-card player. She reached the fourth round in her Grand Slam debut before she was unable to breathe during that match.
The tournament gave the world a chance to familiarize themselves with her style of clean, crisp tennis. She was able to attack from the baseline early without losing accuracy and managed to win the first points. Raducanu, who was playing against Bencic at the 11th, had 23-12 wins, nearly double the number of unforced errors.
She showed great gumption at the end when she was unable to catch up with love-30 in her two last service games. However, she pulled through.
Raducanu led 3-1 at the start.
Raducanu stated that Bencic's hard-hitting speed caught her off-guard. "I had to adapt.
She did exactly that. She did it quickly, too. Raducanu then resorted to five consecutive games to win the opening set. This was the first time Bencic had dropped a game in the tournament.
Bencic had only been broken three times in four matches. Raducanu, however, equaled that total to become the third woman outside of the top 100 to reach the semifinals of the US Open.
Bencic double-faulted to break and fall behind 3-2, so she slowly trudged to the corner of the court to retrieve the towel. She smacked her racket into her bag and then she plopped down to hit the ground with the racket.
Raducanu ran to the sideline and was greeted by cheers and applause from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
As in the previous afternoon, Ashe spectators gave their support to a teenager who isn't yet well-known and not as used to being on these stages.
Fernandez defeated No. Elina Svitolina, 5th seed, won 6-3, 3-3, 7-6 (5) to become Flushing Meadows' youngest semifinalist since 2005, when Maria Sharapova was there.
On Wednesday, it turned to the even-younger Raducanu.
