Raducanu defeated Olympic medalist Bencic 6-3, 6-4. The 18-year-old joined Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who was the first to earn a spot at the semi-final. She won over Elina Svitolina on Tuesday, only a day after she turned 19.
In the beginning, Raducanu fell behind 3-1. But by the quarterfinal match, she turned it around by breaking Bencic. During the five straight games, she effectively evened it out at 3.
Raducanu is at the 150th rank, making her follow in the footsteps of Billie Jean King and Kim Clijsters to be the only women not within the top 100 rankings to take a spot at the US Open semi-finals.
As of now, her record playing against opponents within the top 50 rankings is 6-0. Raducanu was not even within the top 350 before reached the fourth round of Wimbledon three months ago.
With her victory against Bencic, she will face world no. 4 Karolina Pliskova or Maria Sakkari. Of her win, Raducanu thanks her absolutely amazing team, specifically her New York coaching staff and her family back home.
In her court interview, Raducanu was asked if Fernandez was a motivation. The British confirmed she was motivated by Fernande, who did so well and showed how strong their generation is.