Beating the Odds
Emma Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez in straight sets to win the U.S. Open women’s final.
The British teenage tennis superstar Raducanu won the event 6-4. 6-3. The 18-year-old took home the trophy without dropping a set in her entire time at Flushing Meadows. She’s the first qualifier in the sport’s professional era to reach a Grand Slam final. The Open era began in 1968.
It was the first all-teen women’s final since the 1999 U.S. Open final between Serena Williams and Martina Hingis. Both Raducanu and Fernandez were unseeded coming into the tournament. As soon as she made the final point, she fell to the court in tears of joy.
Raducanu, 18, came into the tournament ranked No. 150th in the world and participating in just her second major tournament.
She started playing tennis at 5 years old and modeled her game after Simona Halep and Li Na. She competed in Wimbledon earlier this year and made it to the fourth round before she retired over a health issue.
She won the tournament defeating Maria Sakkari, Elina Svitolina, Shelby Rogers, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Zhang Shuai and Stefanie Vogele prior to beating Fernandez.
Fernandez, 19 of Canada, came into the tournament ranked 73rd and had never been past the third round in any of the six majors she’s been in. She defeated four seeded players on her way to the U.S. Open final, including defending champion Naomi Osaka.
In 2019, she was participating in junior events. She won the French Open girl’s singles final to became the first Canadian female winner of a major tournament since Eugenie Bouchard did it at Wimbledon in 2012, according to TSN.
Fernandez won her first WTA Tour title at the Monterrey Open in March.
As Williams and Hingis did in 1999, Raducanu and Fernandez gave the fans a glimpse at the future of women’s tennis.
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