US Open 2021 – Emma Raducanu crushes Shelby Rogers to reach quarter-finals as fairytale continues

Emma Raducanu continued her fairytale summer by sending Shelby Rogers packing to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open with a 6-2 6-1 win.

The Briton, 18, lost the first two games and was 0-40 down on her serve in the third, but steadied and then exploded to reel off 11 straight games on Arthur Ashe Stadium. She will face Tokyo 2020 champion Belinda Bencic in the last eight on Wednesday.

“I’m so happy to come through and overcome some of the nerves at the beginning,” Raducanu said on court.

On her next opponent, she added: “Belinda’s a great player who’s in great form so I know I’m going to have to bring it on Wednesday.

“It’s just going to be who can dictate… But I’m not really thinking about tennis right now. I’ll leave that for tomorrow!”

Rogers, a decade older than her opponent, had also staged a surprise to progress this far in the tournament, but she had more than earned her place with a comeback win over world number one Ashleigh Barty in the previous round on Sunday.

Little was really expected of Raducanu, given she has only just burst onto the scene of professional women’s tennis, but she had made light work of Sara Sorribes Tormo the day before, giving her time to relax and prepare for Monday’s match-up.

Raducanu fell behind early in the first set but ultimately rallied strongly to impose herself on the match and took the first set 6-2 to get halfway to victory. She dominated with far more success on her serves, and comfortably outscored throughout the set as she broke Rogers several times.

Rogers needed to compose herself at the start of the second set but her teenage opponent had no time for that.

She continued to dominate and even stepped up her levels of performance, racing into a 5-0 second set lead and leaving Rogers with little hope of hanging on, with a rare service hold from the American only delaying the inevitable.