British teenager Emma Raducanu will hope to match the motivation levels of American opponent Shelby Rogers in their US Open encounter.
After her victory on Saturday the 18-year-old was probably expecting to face world number one Ash Barty but the unseeded Rogers sprang a surprise and will return in front of a partisan home crowd on Monday with eyes on the quarter-finals.
Raducanu, however, is also in decent form after dropping just a single game in a comprehensive 6-0 6-1 weekend victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo and has no concerns about facing a home favourite even if she will have the full backing of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
thank you for an amazing atmosphere & helping me into week 2 @usopen!! Means a lot 🥰 pic.twitter.com/W6F9ZcSsHK — Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) September 4, 2021
"Playing in front of your home crowd you have a different level of motivation," she said.
"(But) I'm pretty motivated for any situation I am thrown into."
Rogers, 10 years Raducanu's senior, has battled back from knee surgery and reached the quarter-finals last year.
But having overcome an opponent she is more than familiar with she admits she has some homework to do about the Kent teenager, who has matched her Wimbledon heroics of two months ago in reaching the fourth round.
"I'm going to have to do a little bit of scouting I think," she said.
"But she's fearless. She is playing very well and she's inspired. It's going to be a battle. I am ready for it.
"It's really cool to see the younger generation coming up in this tournament, getting some big wins. It's really impressive.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to bring my best tennis again in a different way I think, though. Every match. That's the cool thing about tennis, you have to adjust every single time and make a new strategy."
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