Emma Raducanu has done something amazing. © APA / getty / ELSA

This fairy tale leaves the tennis world speechless: Emma Raducanu capped her sensational journey with the US Open title.

September 12, 2021

Author: dpa / det

The 18-year-old Briton triumphed in the final on Saturday with a 6: 4.6: 3 over 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who is just two months older.

Raducanu, who started the tournament as number 150, had a historic march for women’s tennis with ten Grand Slam title qualifying victories without losing a set. The reward for this is a cash prize of over $ 2.5 million and the advance in the world rankings to 23rd place.

Emma Raducanu won the title in New York. © ANSA / JOHN G. MABANGLO

In a duel between two teenagers that hardly anyone outside of the tennis world knew about, Raducanu pushed the performance back a bit more mature. She is the first player to win the title on her second major tournament appearance. At Wimbledon, she reached the round of 16 after only making her WTA tour debut in Nottingham in June. Raducanu is the first Briton to win a Grand Slam tournament since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977. She received the field trophy from Billie Jean King.

A classy endgame

A spectacular finale. © APA / getty / MATTHEW STOCKMAN

The last time there were two teenagers in a Grand Slam final was in 1999, when Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis. In 2021, two young Canadian-born women of Asian origin clashed. And offered Arthur Ashe Stadium viewers one of the best women’s finals of the recent past, featuring spectacular rallies. The (again) world number 150. Raducanu got the first break at 2-0, but immediately conceded the recovery in the first set. Nevertheless, the first round after the second break at 6: 4 after 58 minutes went to Raducanu, who played a bit more forcefully.

In the second set Fernandez managed the first break at 2: 1, this time Raducanu equalized immediately and countered with another break at 4: 2. Fernandez managed to fend off two match points and reduce them to 3: 5 with a chance of a break before Raducanu suffered a bleeding knee and got his nerves under control after the treatment break. After 1:51, the Briton used the third match point and took the victory – her first success in a major tournament at the professional level – with a perfect ace.