It’s a teenage rampage at the US Open
TEENAGE exuberance has stolen the show at the US Open so far and Emma Raducanu continued to ride the wave of her extraordinary summer with a crushing win over Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The Kent teenager dropped just a single game in a stunning 6-0 6-1 victory against a player ranked 41 and also having a breakthrough season to join fellow 18-year-olds Leylah Fernandez and Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round.
Raducanu now has a real shot of making the last eight at Flushing Meadows as she takes on American Shelby Rogers, who dumped out world number one Ash Barty with a superb comeback.
Rogers is vastly experienced but inconsistent, and if Raducanu produces anything like the tennis she showed against Sorribes Tormo, the Briton has no reason to fear anyone.
She revealed Fernandez and Alcaraz’s wins had provided inspiration, saying: “To have so many young players coming through is just really great for the game, because it just shows how strong this next generation is.
“I think we all inspire each other to play better. I wanted to join them in the second week as well, so that was an extra bit of motivation. They are very, very nice people. I’m very happy for them, and also very happy for myself that I can also go into the second week.”
Raducanu has not dropped a set across six matches in qualifying and the main draw and was superior in every area to Sorribes Tormo, out-hitting and out-thinking one of the most durable players on tour.
In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic battled to a 17th consecutive victory over Kei Nishikori to keep his bid for the calendar Grand Slam on track.
Not since a semi-final win over the Serbian in New York in 2014 had Nishikori got the better of Djokovic, and he won just two games at the Olympics in Tokyo earlier this summer.
The Japanese player won the first set in Arthur Ashe Stadium to threaten an upset but Djokovic roared his way to a 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory and a place in the fourth round. The top seed said: “Maybe at some points I wasn’t at my best but overall I was determined, I was concentrated.’’