#Shelby Rogers dominated by Emma Raducanu at US Open

The last American woman left in the U.S. Open got sent packing by a bubbly British buzz saw named Emma Raducanu. And like everything else the teenager has done since getting to Flushing Meadows, she made it look easy.

Shelby Rogers had the experience on her résumé, and the tourney’s single biggest win under her belt. But Raducanu has had the best extended run in this U.S. Open, having won 14 straight sets in her Flushing Meadows debut, capped by Monday’s 6-2, 6-1 fourth-round laugher in her Arthur Ashe Stadium debut.

“That’s the next generation of our sport, and it’s in good hands,” Rogers said of her young foe.

Even in this wacky Open that’s seen three 18-year-olds reach the quarters, Raducanu is only the third qualifier to get this far. It’s a run that’s surprised even the young woman making it.

“Personally I am surprised that I’m here. I didn’t expect [it],” said Raducanu, who switched back to old coach Andrew Richardson after Wimbledon.

“I knew I was doing a lot of great work that would pay off someday, but you never know when. I’m super appreciative of the moment. Here in the U.S. Open quarterfinals, after not playing for 18 months, is absolutely just incredible.”

Raducanu came into Wimbledon only two months removed from her A-levels (school exams, to you and I), ranked just 338th in the world and never having faced a foe in the top 100.

But on Labor Day? She hardly worked to dominate Rogers, who’d just beaten world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty on Saturday.

“She held serve; broke me, held serve; broke me, held serve. Yeah, that was pretty embarrassing,” Rogers said. “It was a tough day at the office. Unfortunately I had to fail in front of thousands and thousands of people. So I have to live with that one. It’s a little — a lot — disappointing that I couldn’t muster up a little bit more.”

Whether Rogers had no fight left after her slugfest with Barty, or Raducanu just took what was left, the result was the same — a lopsided drubbing. And the South Carolinian was already bracing for online blowback.

“We appreciate the spotlight in those moments, but then you have today and I’m going to have 9 million death threats and whatnot. It’s very much polarizing, one extreme to the other very quickly,” said Rogers, alluding to the online abuse fellow American Sloane Stephens wrote about last week on Instagram.

“Yeah, I kind of wish social media didn’t exist. Here we are. … You could probably go through my profile right now, I’m probably a fat pig and words that I can’t say right now. But it is what it is. You try not to take it to heart.”

Rogers rattled the teen early with her power and big forehands, breaking to jump ahead 2-0. But Raducanu settled in, gained confidence and used her own speed and defense to reel off 11 straight games.

Raducanu had 18 winners, just 14 unforced errors and saved eight of nine break points. After losing just 15 games through four matches, now she’ll face Tokyo gold medalist Belinda Bencic — who also hasn’t dropped a set in this tournament — for a berth in the semis.

“She has a lot of experience on the tour. She’s in great form, having won Olympic gold,” Raducanu said. “I’m also feeling good about my game, also confident with the amount of matches I’ve played. I feel like I’m building with each one.”