Washington Open: Emma Raducanu's 'Confidence Building' As Maria Sakkari Beaten For Semi-Final Berth

Emma Raducanu believes her confidence has been building since the Miami Open in March, having reached the Washington Open semi-finals with victory over Maria Sakkari.

The 2021 US Open champion continued her preparations for this year's final grand slam with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Sakkari in Friday's quarter-final clash.

She won the last five games of a gruelling two-hour, 10-minute contest that featured eight breaks of serve, having fallen 5-2 down in the second set.

Raducanu is playing some of her best tennis since her breakout triumph at Flushing Meadows four years ago, and she believes a run to the last eight in Miami in March gave her a platform to build on. 

"I think it's been building since Miami," Raducanu said. "I've been doing a lot of good work and little by little, as you get a few results, you build some confidence, and it helps.

"But also, the amount of work I’m doing behind the scenes, just to have that in the locker and banked, you know you’ve done it. It takes a little bit of pressure off the results.

"I’m really pleased today, Maria played an incredible match and these conditions really suit her with the jumpiness and liveliness of her game. I'm very happy to have toughed it out."

Temperatures at Rock Creek Park hovered at around 35 degrees Celsius for much of Friday's contest, with Raducanu noting the difficulty of playing in those conditions.

"It was one of the toughest matches, conditions-wise, I have ever played in," Raducanu said. "Those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly. 

"I think the humidity here, it just makes it feel completely like you have just opened an oven, and it has stayed open and your head is in there!"

Raducanu will face Anna Kalinskaya in the semi-finals on Saturday, after the Russian upset fourth seed Clara Tauson 6-3 7-5. 

Should she reach the final, she could face Leylah Fernandez in a re-run of the 2021 US Open showpiece, if the Canadian can spring a surprise against Elena Rybakina.

Raducanu and Rybakina also teamed up in the doubles, but they retired from their semi-final against Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai at 4-1 down in the opening set, to priorise their singles commitments. 

Data Debrief: Raducanu back to her best

Raducanu will feature in her first WTA Tour-level semi-final in more than a year, since losing to Katie Boulter in the last four of the Nottingham Open last June.

The 22-year-old – who reclaimed her spot as the British number one by overhauling Boulter in the rankings on Thursday – now has 21 WTA Tour-level victories in 2025.

That is her most in a single season (excluding team events), while she will feature in her first semi-final on hard courts since Seoul in 2022.