"I didn't expect to be here, my flights were booked at the end of qualifying" - Emma Raducanu on reaching US Open SF
Emma Raducanu aced the biggest challenge of her young career so far by beating Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 to secure a semifinal berth at the 2021 US Open. Raducanu is the first qualifier ever to make the last four at the New York Major.
After shaking off the early nerves, the Brit played some supremely confident and aggressive tennis to keep Bencic on the backfoot and end the match as a contest. She will now take on either Karolina Pliskova or Maria Sakkari in the semifinals, continuing her dream debut at the US Open.
When asked to reflect on her US Open journey thus far, Emma Raducanu said she has been pleasantly surprised by it all. The 18-year-old even joked about how she had booked flight tickets to leave at the end of the qualifying stage, since she didn't expect herself to reach the main draw of the tournament.
"I have just been focusing one day at a time, taking care of each day," Raducanu said. "When you're playing tournaments, you just get into this sort of autopilot mode of your routines, recovering on the day off in between. I didn't expect to be here at all. I mean, I think my flights were booked at the end of qualifying, so it's a nice problem to have."
"I'm just really enjoying the experience," she added. "Out there on the court today, I was saying to myself, 'This could be the last time you play on Ashe, so might as well just go for it and enjoy everything'."
Emma Raducanu went on to mention how British tennis greats like Virginia Wade and Andy Murray have inspired her on her journey. The teenager further revealed she has hit with Murray a couple of times, and even received advice from him.
"I think that their presence and everything that they have achieved is inspiration in itself for me," Raducanu said. "We have some great role models to look up to. I personally haven't spent that much time with them, but, like Andy has quite often spoken to me, and I actually hit with him two times. Yeah, all are such great role models and figures for me to follow."
Raducanu went on to talk about how her calmness and mental strength are a result of her upbringing and the values instilled in her at a young age. She also pointed out that those values have helped her regroup after falling behind during matches.
"The calmness and the mental strength definitely comes from my upbringing," Raducanu said. "I think my parents have both instilled in me from a very young age to definitely have a positive attitude on court, because, it was definitely an absolute no-go if I had any sort of bad attitude."
"When you're serving out a match on such a big stage, to go into your first semifinals of a Slam, you definitely need a sense of calm to get through that moment," she added. "Especially I was love-30, and to just reset and focus on what I could control."
"I have started sliding, which I didn't know I could, by accident now" - Emma Raducanu
When asked to review the aspects of her game that she is most happy with, Emma Raducanu highlighted her movement and foot speed. The teenager further noted that she has started sliding on court by 'accident', which has worked out perfectly for her.
Raducanu also talked about her mental strength, which helped her come back and clinch victory after being an early break down in her last two matches.
"I'd say one of the things is my movement," Raducanu said. "Physically I would say I'm not 100% developed yet, but my speed and ability to get to some of the balls has definitely surprised me. I have started sliding, which I didn't know I could do actually, and I kind of do it by accident now. I have always wanted to learn how to do it, but now I can do it."
"I'd say my movement and athleticism, but also just the mental strength to be able to, two days ago come out onto Ashe for the first time and keep my calm and come through, being a break down, and then today again to serve out the match and play Belinda on such a big court and occasion," she added.