Emma Raducanu Creates History, Becomes First Qualifier in Open Era to Reach US Open Semifinals After Victory Over Belinda Bencic

British teenage sensation Emma Raducanu put in a stunning performance in her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. Facing 11th seed Belinda Bencic, the 18-year-old pulled another rabbit out of her hat as she defeated the Swiss star in straight sets.

The final scoreline read 6-3, 6-4 as she will make her maiden Grand Slam semifinal appearance later this week.

Emma Raducanu stuns Belinda Bencic to reach maiden US Open semi-final

The Briton looked nervous in the opening few games of the first set. Bencic broke her serve in the very first game of the match, and held her own serve to go 2-0 up. However, Raducanu refused to back down, breaking the Olympic gold medalist’s serve in the sixth game to tie the set 3-3.

From that point on, there was no looking back for the 18-year-old. After breaking the Olympic gold medalist’s serve once again in the eighth game of the set, she held serve to win the first set 6-3. This marked an impressive comeback in the set as she won five games in a row after being 3-1 down to take the set.

In the second set, Bencic served the first game. After four games went without a break, Raducanu scored a stunning break in the fifth game to go 3-2 up. Following this, there were no more breaks in the set as the Briton held on for another famous victory in New York.

This result makes her the first player to come through the qualifying rounds and reach the semifinals of the hard court Grand Slam. In addition, she could receive an even bigger boost in the WTA Rankings.

Prior to this match, the Briton garnered 470 ranking points after her performance in the qualifiers and her run in the main draw. However, she will receive 250 more ranking points for reaching the semifinals. This will make her the highest-ranked British player in the latest update of the WTA Rankings next Monday.

Raducanu to face either Karolina Pliskova or Maria Sakkari in the semifinals

Later today, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova will face 17th seed Maria Sakkari in the last quarterfinal of the women’s singles category. The winner of that match will face Raducanu in the semifinals towards the end of this week.

Can the British teenager go one step further and add another major upset to reach the final of the US Open? Only time will tell.