Emma Raducanu was the first to win the US Open / Image: imago images / Paul Zimmer
Emma Raducanu has crowned her sensational run. The 18-year-old British triumphed at the US Open on Saturday with a 6: 4.6: 3 over the Canadian Leylah Fernandez (19), who is only two months older. Raducanu achieved a historic march for women's tennis with ten wins from qualifying to the Grand Slam title without losing a set. The reward for this is a prize money of over 2.5 million dollars and the advance in the world rankings to position 23.
In a duel between two teenagers who hardly anyone outside of the tennis world knew, Raducanu put the somewhat more mature performance off. She is the first player to win the title in just her second participation in a major tournament. At Wimbledon, she reached the round of 16 after only making her debut on the WTA tour in Nottingham in June. Raducanu is the first British woman to win a Grand Slam tournament since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977. She received the trophy on the pitch from Billie Jean King.
The last time there were two teenagers in a Grand Slam final was 1999, when Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis. In 2021, two young women born in Canada with Asian roots faced each other. And offered viewers at Arthur Ashe Stadium one of the better women's finals in the recent past, including spectacular rallies. The (still) world number 150. Raducanu got the first break to 2-0, but immediately conceded the rebreak in the first set. Nevertheless, the first round after the second break to 6: 4 after 58 minutes went to Raducanu, who played a little more forcefully.
In the second set Fernandez managed the first break to make it 2: 1, this time Raducanu equalized immediately and countered with another break to make it 4: 2. Fernandez was able to fend off two match points and reduce them to 3: 5 with a break chance of his own before Raducanu suffered a bleeding knee and had her nerves under control after the treatment break. After 1:51 hour, the Briton used the third match point and made the win – her first major tournament success on professional level – with an ace perfect.
(APA / sda / dpa)
