DC Open: Emma Raducanu Breezes Past Maria Sakkari, Leylah Fernandez Topples Taylor Townsend
Raducanu eased past Sakkari 6-4, 7-5 to win in straight sets, while Fernandez put it past Townsend in a 6-4, 7-6(4) triumph in the sweltering heat.
Emma Raducanu got the better of Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinal of the DC Open on Saturday to secure her spot in the semifinal of the event in Washington, while Leylah Fernandez also moved into the final-four of the WTA event with her win over Taylor Townsend.
Raducanu eased past Sakkari 6-4, 7-5 to win in straight sets, while Fernandez put it past Townsend in a 6-4, 7-6(4) triumph in the sweltering heat.
'It was one of the toughest matches conditions-wise I've ever played in," Raducanu said following the triumph.
'Those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly I'm just happy I could close it out and it was two sets," she added.
'I think the humidity here, as well, it just makes it feel completely like you have just opened an oven and it just stayed open and your head is in there. That's how it feels," the Brit explained.
'When it's at that stage you know you're going to suffer and you have to just go until you physically can't anymore. It could be a little dangerous but you just leave it all out there on the court as an athlete," she averred.
'You get to a point where you're so tired that you don't really know what you're doing anymore, and I think maybe that helped," Raducanu said.
'I just really had to be smooth and conserve energy…. You just have to really be so focused," the 2021 US Open winner said.
'I have played three great matches to be here in the semifinals, and it is the first semis in a long time," she said.
'I'm really proud of that and just happy that all the hard work I've been doing is starting to pay off," Raducanu signed off.
Raducanu is slated to take on Anna Kalinskaya in the semis encounter with a place in the summit clash of the tune-up tournament to the Flushing Meadows up for grabs.
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