OTHER SPORTS
Emma Raducanu advances to US Open 2021 quarterfinals after defeating Shelby Rogers
The British sensation continues her stunning run of form with no signs of slowing down.
British teenager Emma Raducanu continued her scintillating run of form as she easily dismissed American Shelby Rogers.
Controlling the Match
The 18-year-old starlet who is in fact a qualifier, has yet to drop a set in New York having won 11 games straight in a 6-2 61 demolition of Rogers. Playing in the largest Tennis stadium in the world, the Arthur Ashe stadium, Raducanu showed no signs of nerves after recovering from an opening game break as she easily took command and began to dominate.
She will now face Olympic champion Belinda Bencic for a place in the semi-finals of the US Open.
A Star on the Rise
Raducanu who is ranked 150th in the world, recently wowed the British public with her performances at Wimbledon in July. There she made it to the fourth round as a wlld card, and at the moment shows no signs stopping. "It feels absolutely amazing. Shelby is a great opponent, she's done so well in the US Open and she's had a great week so I knew it was going to be a tough match," She said in her on-court interview. "But I'm so happy to have come through and have managed to overcome some of the nerves at the beginning."
From Early nerves to Victory
Arriving on court with a visible smile, Raducanu appeared relaxed but it wouldn't take long before her nerves were visible as she lost her opening game. Then, in front of some of the sport's biggest names like American, Billie Jean King and Britain's Virginia Wade she steeled herself and in her second service game held firm avoiding two break points. At this point there was no turning back. Raducanu took control of the match against the 43rd ranked player in the world who incidentally had upset world number 1 Ashleigh Barty in the round before.
Rogers would get a consolation game while saving three match points but in the end the Briton could not be denied as she advanced to her first Grand Slam quarter final. In doing so she takes one more step towards becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since 1977. Wade, who in fact was that woman on the courts of Wimbledon in 77' looked on as Raducanu spoke directly to her: "Thank you so much for watching my match. I really appreciate it, you're an absolute legend so I'm really honored to have you here. I will just do my best and see how it goes."
Rogers Laments a lack of fuel
Speaking after the match, World number 43 Shelby Rogers admitted to not being up to the challenge. "It took everything I had to beat Barty. I guess that was a little apparent today," Rogers said in the post match conference. "The tank was a little bit empty. She [Raducanu] has been doing a lot of great stuff but I don't think she had much of a challenge today. It was a tough day at the office."