In a battle of the unlikeliest matchup in the history of the U.S. Open final, British teenager Emma Raducanu emerged victorious over Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez. It was the first all-teen final at the U.S. Open since 1999 when Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis. It was also the lowest ranked matchup in a major tournament final with Raducanu ranked 150th in the world and Fernandez 73rd in the world. Raducanu’s victory also marked the first time a qualifier made it to the final of a major tournament, and she became the first woman from the United Kingdom to win a major tournament since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon. It was also a smooth sailing victory for Emma as she never dropped a set all tournament.
The 18 year-old, Raducanu began her Cinderella run ranked 150th in the world and outside of the main draw. She had to play three matches in qualifying in order to make the main draw of the U.S. Open. She beat Bibiane Schoofs, Mariam Bolkvadze, and Mayar Sherif in the qualifying matches and didn’t drop a set against those players en route to the main draw. She played her first round match against Stefanie Voegele with a straight sets victory. Raducanu then beat Zhang Shuai, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Shelby Rogers, Belinda Bencic, and Maria Sakkari all in straight sets to advance to the final against Leylah Fernandez. This made her the first qualifier to ever reach the final of a major tournament.
Raducanu’s opponent Leylah Fernandez was on a Cinderella journey as well. Fernandez, the 73rd ranked player in the world, had her hands full all tournament long. Fernandez was tasked with beating four-time major champion and former world number one Naomi Osaka in the third round, three-time major champion and former world number one Angie Kerber in the fourth round, and 5th ranked player of the world and Olympic Bronze Medalist Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals. This set up a semifinal matchup against world number two Aryna Sabalenka. The six foot tall belarussian, Sabalenka tried to use her size to overpower Fernandez, but ultimately lost in three sets to the 73rd ranked player. This set the stage for a historical U.S. Open final.
The all-teen final lived up to the hype. The first set was a back and forth affair, but Raducanu eventually prevailed 6-4 to move within one set of history. The second set was looking like a breeze for Raducanu, but she was one the ropes late as Fernandez was up a break while trailing 3-5 in the set trying to extend the match a little longer. This is where things started to get dicey. Raducanu slipped and scraped her knee forcing her to take a medical timeout as blood dripped down her leg. As Raducanu was getting stitched up and bandaged, a visibly frustrated Fernandez began arguing with the chair umpire over the delay in the match. This proved to be a turning point for Raducanu as she battled off the break point and eventually served for the match, outlasting the canadian Fernandez 6-4 6-3. This completed Raducanu’s journey to her first major title.
What we saw during Saturday’s ladies singles final is not something to be easily replicated. Both ladies did well despite the cards being stacked against them. They each received a significant boost in rankings as a result. The winner, Emma Raducanu rose from 150th to 23rd in the world and Leylah Fernandez went from 73rd to 28th in the world. Both players must now deal with the pressure that goes along with being in the final of a slam and the increase in rankings. Though, something tells me it won’t be a problem for the champ as Emma Raducanu’s parting words after each round were “I’m just here to have fun”. It certainly is fun to be a winner.
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