Britain’s Emma Raducanu is having a great run at the WTA Chicago 125 where she has reached the semi-finals and will play American Claire Liu on Saturday.
Raducanu began the week by taking out the No 1 seed Alison Van Uytvanck from Belgium in her opening match, and followed this up with a convincing win over France’s Clara Burel, 6-2 7-4.
In the quarter-finals she advanced after taking a tight first set against Jule Niemeier, 7-6(4), when the German retired, and will now square off against Lui, the World No 107, in the semi-final, which is the first time the two will have met at this level.
Lui, who has achieved a 37-13 record in 2021, reaching the semi-finals fter defeating Ysaline Bonaventure from Belgium, 6-3 6-2, Russians Anna Kalinskaya, 6-4 4-6 6-3, and Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-2 6-3.
The American has clinched 2 titles in 2021 Charlottesville and Charleston, and also reached the final in the W25 Boca Raton and in the W25 Newport Beach.
She has a 37-13 win-loss record in 2021, with 15-7 on hard-courts.
18-year old Raducanu is currently ranked at a career high of 174, and has a 12-5 win-loss record in 2021, with 7-2 on hard-courts.
The other semi-finals is between America’s Ann Li and Clara Tauson from Denmark in the 2nd meeting of their careers, Li leading 1-0.
Ranked no. 101, the Dane reached the semi-final after battling past Britain’s Harriet Dart 6-1 6-7(2) 6-2, American Hailey Baptiste, 6-2 3-6 6-3, and Aussie Storm Sanders, 7-5 6-3.
Tauson has a 29-12 win-loss record in 2021, with 9-2 on hard, and her best result of the season is winning the title the W25 Fujairah, where she beat Viktorija Golubic in the final, the W25 Altenkirchen where she beat Simona Waltert in the final, and in Lyon where she beat Viktorija Golubic in the final.
Li is ranked 66 and has had a slightly easier passage to the semi-final after defeating compatriot Whitney Osuigwe, 6-3 6-4, France’s Oceane Dodin, 6-3 6-1, and Zarina Diyas from Kazakstan, 6-4 2-6 6-3.
She has a 15-7 win-loss record in 2021, 13-3 on hard-courts, and her best result of the season was reaching the semi-final in Melbourne and Monterrey.
Emma Raducanu signs autographs after her quarter-final match in Chicago
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