Andreescu, 19, from suburban Toronto, downed 25th seed Mertens 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to book a Thursday clash against fellow Slam semi-final debutante Bencic
A jubilant Bianca Andreescu after her quarter-final victory. Pic/AFP
Canadian Bianca Andreescu became the first teen US Open semi-finalist in a decade, rallying to defeat Belgium's Elise Mertens on Wednesday and advance to a Last-4 matchup with Belinda Bencic. Andreescu, 19, from suburban Toronto, downed 25th seed Mertens 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to book a Thursday clash against fellow Slam semi-final debutante Bencic, the Swiss 13th seed who beat Croatian 23rd seed Donna Vekic 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
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"I'm honestly speechless," Andreescu said. "I need someone to pinch me right now. Is this real life?" Either Bencic or Andreescu, who have never played each other, will reach her first Slam final on Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where first-time Slam winners have been crowned three of the past four years.
"Semi-final feels great right now," Bencic said.
"I was dreaming about this day coming but you never know. I worked hard for this. Yeah, very nice feeling." Andreescu, a winner this year at Indian Wells and Toronto, is the first teen in the US Open's last four since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. She credited being tested in her wins with giving her the poise to battle back after dropping the first set against a foe who had not dropped a set in the tournament.
"I think it's just the experience from playing these huge events this past year," she said. "All that experience is just catching up."
Andreescu could become the first teen to win a Grand Slam title since Maria Sharapova captured the 2006 US Open and she would be the youngest US Open champion since Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2004. "This is honestly so crazy," said 15th seed Andreescu. "A year ago I was in the qualifying round. I remember I was suffering from a back injury."
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