US Open 2021 - Emma Raducanu says her flights were booked at the end of qualifying after reaching semi-finals
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ByEurosport
Updated 09/09/2021 at 07:02 GMT
Emma Raducanu has surprised the tennis world by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open, moving her to within two matches of a Grand Slam title aged 18. She admits she has even surprised herself with how well she is playing. Raducanu has become the first British woman to reach a US Open semi-final since Joe Durie in 1983 with Virginia Wade the last British woman to win a major title in 1977.
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Emma Raducanu says her "flights were booked at the end of qualifying" after beating Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the US Open on Wednesday.
Raducanu became the first qualifier ever to reach the semis at Flushing Meadows and will surge into the top 50 of the WTA rankings, becoming British women's number one, once the Grand Slam has concluded.
The 18-year-old, who as a wildcard entry reached the fourth round of Wimbledon earlier this summer, will face Greece's Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals on Thursday night.
The Brit admits she did not think she would even get as far as the main draw in only her second Slam appearance.
"I have just been focusing one day at a time, taking care of each day," Raducanu said in her post-match press conference.
"When you're playing tournaments, you just get into this sort of auto-pilot mode of your routines, recovering on the day off in between.
I didn't expect to be here at all. 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. 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'."
When asked if she thinks she can win the US Open, she said: "I mean, let's say I have a hunger to win every single match I play, so I don't want to get ahead of myself at all, because I just like to take it one day at a time.
"If I take care of what I can control, then that's going to give me the best chance.
"Until now, I think it's worked very well for me not getting ahead of myself, just focusing on one point at a time. It's got me to this stage, and I'm not going to change anything."
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