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Britain’s Emma Raducanu maintained her dominant form in New York, beating No.18 Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to her first major final at the US Open. The 18-year-old became the first qualifier, male or female, to advance to a major final.
Raducanu will face 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez on Saturday in the first major teenage final since Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis at the 1999 US Open. Raducanu’s run also ended a trio of British droughts. She is the youngest British finalist in 62 years, the first British woman to reach a major final in 44 years and the first British woman to reach the US Open final in 53 years.
“Honestly, I just can’t believe it,” Raducanu said. “A shock. Crazy. All of the above.”
Playing only her second Slam and making her US Open debut, the Toronto-born Briton didn’t come close to losing a single set in six matches. With victories over Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals and Sakkari in the semi-finals, 150th-ranked Raducanu earned back-to-back Top 20 wins for the first time in his fledgling career.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing in a Grand Slam, but I just didn’t know when they would come,” Raducanu said. “Coming so early, at this point in my career, I’ve only really been on tour for a month, two months since Wimbledon. It’s pretty crazy for me.”
READ: Out of the spotlight, Raducanu engineers hit American soil
Sakkari secured a berth in her second major semi-final of the season with a stunning pair of Top 10 wins over 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu and world No.4 Karolina Pliskova. The 26-year-old Greek entered the game full of confidence, especially after her stunning straight-set victory over Pliskova in the quarter-finals, a game in which she never faced a break point.
While Sakkari had reached her first major semi-final just three months at Roland Garros, where she came close to a point in the final, Raducanu was aiming to make her first tour-level final. The teenage phenomenon played her first WTA tournament on Nottingham grass in June, and on her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon, she advanced to the round of 16. Chicago last month and hasn’t lost a game of tennis since. On Monday, she will end Johanna Konta’s 310-week reign as Britain’s No.1, with a chance to climb to No.24 if she wins the title.
“Before the US Open I had a lot of games coming up,” Raducanu said. “I played a 125 in Chicago, a 100K the week before. I think I was building in every game. Here at the US Open, I wasn’t really sure where I was. In a way, my level of tennis surprised me with how I managed to measure myself against some of the best players in the world.
“Personally, I think inside I knew I had some sort of level in me that was similar to these girls, but I wasn’t sure if I was able to keep it on one set or two sets. To be able to do that and face the best players in the world and beat them, honestly, I can’t believe it. “
The key moments came early in the game, as Sakkari scored a total of seven break points in Raducanu’s first two service games, but was unable to convert. Instead, it was Raducanu who beat Sakkari in his first service game before taking a 5-0 lead. After wiping out Sakkari’s early chances and the Greek struggling to find her ground lineup, Raducanu would not face a break point for the remainder of the game.
Sakkari fought to stay inside a Raducanu break as the second set headed for the finish line, but the Briton managed two clinical service games to keep him at 5-3, then close the victory 6-1, 6-4 after 1 hour. and 23 minutes.
Raducanu played a clutch match on the floor, hitting 16 winners out of 17 unforced errors, while Sakkari struggled to control the ball, hitting 17 winners out of 33 unforced errors. Raducanu served 71% of first serves and dominated his serve plays, winning 72% of his first serve and, more impressively, 69% of his second serves. In the end, Sakkari only won 29% of his return points in the game.
“She plays fearlessly,” Sakkari said. “She absolutely goes. She’s actually doing the right thing. She’s got nothing to lose. She’s having fun.
“But we were all off the pitch these days playing against her. I saw Belinda yesterday. I don’t want to speak for her, but I think she would agree with me that we didn’t didn’t bring our best performance. I’m sad. I’m very broken that I couldn’t qualify again for my first final. But I’m sure it will happen soon. “
Saturday’s final will be the first major final in the open era to feature two unranked players. No.150 Raducanu didn’t lose a set in qualifying or the main draw, while No.73 Fernandez made her way through three Top 5 players (Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka) and a former champion (Angelique Kerber) in a quartet of dramatic wins in three sets.
READ: Fernandez beat Osaka, his family and spoke out on the tennis court
Raducanu and Fernandez are junior contemporaries but have yet to face the professional circuit. They faced each other once in the juniors, at the 2018 Wimbledon women’s event, Raducanu winning 6-2, 6-4 in the second round. Fernandez had won the women’s Roland Garros event a few weeks earlier.
“We first met because I was born in Toronto and she was Canadian, so we kind of had a little relationship back then, “Raducanu said.” Then I played her. at Wimbledon junior. Obviously since then we’ve both come a long way in our games and as people.
“I’m sure it will be hugely different from the last time we met. But we both play good tennis so it will be a good game.”
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