British teen Emma Raducanu continued her stunning run through the U.S. Open with a 6-2, 6-1 dismantling of Shelby Rogers on Monday in New York to become only the third qualifier to reach the women’s quarterfinals at the prestigious event.
Raducanu, 18, needed only 65 minutes to defeat Rogers, the final American woman left in the tournament. The victor had 18 winners against 14 unforced errors.Raducanu joins Barbara Gerken (1981) and Kaia Kanepi (2017) as qualifiers to advance this far since the Open Era began in 1968.
Raducanu: A Champion In making
A nervous Raducanu lost the first two games on Monday before getting comfortable and winning 12 of the final 13.“It means a lot to have gone out there and to have performed,” Raducanu said afterward. “Shelby Rogers is an extremely experienced opponent, so I knew I would have to bring it today.
Up next for the youngster is Swiss 11th seed and Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, who advanced with a 7-6 (14-12), 6-3 win over Polish 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek.“Belinda’s a great player who’s in great form so I know I’m going to have to bring it on Wednesday,” said Raducanu.
The teenager got off to a nervous start with world No.43 Rogers taking the early break to go in front 2-0. But after that it was one-way traffic for Britain’s 150th-ranked qualifier, who quickly settled in and stormed through the next 11 games to take the first set and lead 5-0 in the second.
Tough Opponent
The 28-year-old Rogers, coming off the biggest win of her career with a third-round upset of world No.1 Ash Barty, appeared flat and was soon shell-shocked.The American had rallied from 5-2 down in the third to beat Barty but there was no way back against Raducanu, who never allowed the American an opening.
The American was the third top 50 player that Raducanu has beaten in her seven matches so far at the US Open, after accounting for China’s world No 49 Zhang Shuai and the world No 41 Sara Sorribes Tormo in the previous round.
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Final Word
Raducanu made her breakthrough as a wild card at Wimbledon this summer, where she reached the fourth round before retiring hurt in her match against Ajla Tomljanovic.
Having come through qualifiers in New York, the Canada-born, Britain-raised Raducanu is yet to drop a set at her second slam appearance. Her progress has made headlines in her parents’ homelands of Romania and China where she is fast gaining a following.
