US Open: Emma Raducanu reaches semi-finals by beating Belinda Bencic

[Animous]

British teenager Emma Raducanu continued her fairytale run at the US Open by reaching the semi-finals with a dominant straight-set win over Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic.

Raducanu, 18, again showed all of her quality and composure in a 6-3 6-4 win.

Victory means she will rise to the cusp of the world's top 50 and become the British women's number one.

Raducanu will play Maria Sakkari in Thursday's semis after the Greek beat Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova.

It will be the second of the women's singles semi-finals and will be played about 21:00 local time in New York (02:00 BST, Friday).

Relive how Raducanu dismantled Bencic to reach US Open semi-finals

In only her second Grand Slam appearance, world number 150 Raducanu has become only the third woman ranked outside the top 100 to reach a US Open semi-final.

After coming through three qualifying matches to reach the main draw, Raducanu is yet to drop a set in her eight matches at Flushing Meadows.

With her run in New York, Raducanu has recorded several notable achievements, including becoming:

the first qualifier to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows

the fourth female qualifier to reach any Grand Slam semi-final

the first British woman to reach a US Open semi-final since Jo Durie in 1983

the youngest British woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final for 46 years

When she sealed victory with her first match point, Raducanu clasped her head with her hands before 24-year-old Olympic champion Bencic sportingly came around the net to warmly embrace the victor.

A beaming smile broke out across the Briton's face as she pointed to her team - in a mixture of shock and celebration - and contemplated what she had just achieved on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I'm so, so happy to come through," said Raducanu, who earns prize money of $675,000 (£490,000) for reaching the last four.

"Belinda is such a great opponent and in unbelievable form, her ball speed caught me off guard so I had to adjust and adapt.

"I'm just taking care of what I can control and I'm on my own journey."

Raducanu is yet to drop a set at the US Open and has not been taken to a tie-break

The fairytale of New York continues for Raducanu

Three months ago, few outside British tennis knew Raducanu. Then she was ranked 361 in the world.

Raducanu's world changed with a stunning run to the Wimbledon last 16 - after being given a wildcard on her Grand Slam debut - and her star has continued to rise following another series of displays in New York which have belied her years.

After cruising through to the quarter-finals with a string of assured performances, playing Bencic in the last eight was supposed to be a step up in difficulty for Raducanu.

Questions were asked about how she would deal with a opponent with a greater pedigree than she had faced before, along with the weight of the occasion.

Raducanu handled it in the same manner as she did the other victories at Flushing Meadows: with composed execution, clarity of thought and, still, a sense of enjoyment.

Against Bencic, Raducanu was facing a top-40 opponent for the first time. Not only that, it was the world number 12 who won Olympic gold in Tokyo last month and had continued to ride the crest of a wave in New York.

Yet, after a slightly nervy start where she trailed 2-0, Raducanu grew in confidence to take control and left Bencic increasingly frustrated as the Kent teenager completed another remarkable victory.

Raducanu's maturity shines through again

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