U.S. OPEN NARROWS DOWN PLAYERS
London — Emma Raducanu soaked in tennis’ biggest stage and then set about starring on it as she became the youngest British player to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open for more than 60 years by downing Shelby Rogers.
Rogers had defeated world number one Ashleigh Barty in Arthur Ashe Stadium two days ago but it was a very different experience for the American on Monday as Raducanu reeled off 11 games in a row in a 6-2 6-1 victory against the American to book a last-eight date with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
Raducanu was the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 1990 to reach at least the fourth round of her first two grand slam tournaments and she is only the third qualifier to reach the quarter-finals in New York.
The nearly 24,000-capacity Arthur Ashe stadium is the biggest in tennis and Raducanu took time before the coin toss to gaze up at the towering stands.
“I definitely wanted to take it all in,” she said. “I went out there to practice this morning, but there was no one in the crowd. So it did feel different going out there with a crowd, all of the lights, displays on the board. It did take some adjusting. “I was really trying to enjoy the moment. It’s something that you dream of, to play on Ashe, the biggest court in the world. I really didn’t expect to be here so soon. I just really wanted to be in the present.”
Raducanu’s Wimbledon adventure ended in the fourth round in unfortunate circumstances when she struggled with breathing problems and had to retire, but she has shown with every match in New York how much she has progressed in the two months since.
The 18-year-old Raducanu is the third teenager to make it