Teen Emma Raducanu is through to the US Open last 16 where she will meet American Shelby Rogers next; her stunning win over Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo should be enough to propel her into the top 100 but first she has the world No 1 in her sights
Sunday 5 September 2021 08:38, UK
Emma Raducanu dazzled at the US Open with a mesmerising display of tennis to dismantle Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-0 6-1 as the teenager reached the fourth round in sensational fashion on Saturday.
It is only two months since the 18-year-old from Kent surged into the limelight with her stunning run to the fourth round of Wimbledon, and Raducanu has equalled her performance with another scintillating performance against a player ranked 109 places above her in the rankings.
Raducanu has now won 14 out of her last 15 matches since her first match after Wimbledon in San Jose a month ago, including six at Flushing Meadows.
Raducanu told Amazon Prime: "I was playing very well and I know Sara's an extremely tough opponent. She doesn't make a mistake so you have to be on your game every single point.
"I had to work so hard and there were some really, really long deuce games that could have gone either way so I'm just really happy that I managed to maintain and stay on it and win in the end."
The teenager seems unaffected by the whirlwind around her, and she said: "I've got a great team around me, a great team here so we're just sticking to the same routines.
"It's been two weeks in New York now and into the third week. I never thought I'd be here but I'm just so, so excited."
Raducanu is yet to drop a set in either qualifying or the main draw and the talented teenager was superb in both attack and defence once again with some breathtaking tennis, taking Sorribes Tormo's game apart.
The Spaniard is another of 2021's form players having won her maiden WTA title earlier this year in Guadalajara and has notched 30 wins on tour, with the majority coming on hardcourts.
Her results also include a famous victory over Barty at the Olympics, but Raducanu put on a clinic in the first set to bagel her opponent in 33 minutes, winning 89 per cent of her first-serve points as well as landing eight winners.
Sorribes Tormo had her head in her hands by the time Raducanu won her ninth game in a row and there was more misery for the 24-year-old when the Briton moved one game away from perfection.
The Spaniard dug deep to avoid the dreaded double bagel, but Raducanu soon put her out of her torment by serving it out in the next game to complete a 69-minute masterclass.
Ranked outside the top 350 in June and having never faced a top-100 player, Raducanu is now set to break that milestone herself.
This was her seventh win from nine matches against players inside three figures, and she will take on world No 43 Shelby Rogers for a place in the quarter-finals on Monday after the American dumped out top seed Ashleigh Barty in stunning fashion.
Rogers was playing the Australian for the sixth time in her career having lost all five previous meetings, including four in the 2021 season, and the 28-year-old trailed 5-2 in the deciding third set but then scripted one of the sport's most incredible comebacks to force a tie-break and beat the two-time Grand Slam champion 6-1 2-6 7-6 (7-5).
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