WHAT A ‘RAD’ OPEN
BRIT TEEN QUALIFIER WINS TITLE
Either result, a Cinderella was winning the 2021 U.S. Open. It just turned out not to be lefty sweetheart Leylah Fernandez of Canada.
It turned out to be the one from Great Britain in maybe a bigger, bloody fairytale.
The 18-year-old Emma Raducanu captured the U.S. Open in a straight-set 6-4, 6-3 victory over the 19year-old Fernandez to cap a perfect three-week run as the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam title.
It is the first time a British woman has won a major title since Virginia Wade in 1977 and received a congratulatory message from the Queen of England.
“It’s an absolute dream,’’ Raducanu said. “I knew it was going to be an extremely difficult match because Leylah, she was taking out a lot of the top 10 this week.’’
Raducanu didn’t prevail until surviving a bloody moment at the end. She scraped her left leg sliding for a Fernandez winner. Though she faced a break point, the Brit needed to be bandaged up as blood ran down her leg. Fernandez had pointed words with the umpires about the five-minute break but afterward said she didn’t realize the “serious’’ nature of her fall.
Raducanu, with the area below her knee bandaged, came back, took the game, then the match, serving an ace on match point. She fell to her back in joy and soon was climbing into her box to hug her family and coaches.
“My knee cut pretty bad,’’ Raducanu said. “I didn’t actually want to stop because I thought it would disrupt my rhythm, seeing as I was serving 30-40 and to have such a long break after a point. But I couldn’t play on. I wasn’t allowed to because my knee was gushing with blood.’’
More than three hours after the match, Raducanu finally appeared at her press conference no longer bloody but all glammed up in big earrings, makeup, a sleeveless black jumpsuit. Still, Fernandez continued to gain fans in the loss. Fernandez got a giant ovation during the ceremony and took back the microphone to make a reference to the 9/11 20th anniversary.
“Today is going to be hard to recuperate from,’’ said Fernandez, who sat after the match in tears in her chair before the ceremony. “But I’m very proud of myself. I hope to be back in the finals and with the right trophy. I want to say I want to be as strong and resilient as New York has been the past 20 years.’’
Fernandez said afterward when she woke up Saturday morning and saw all the ceremonies, she first realized the extent of the tragedy. Fernandez was born a year later.
During the match, Fernandez wasn’t as consistent as during her incredible Open march. Fernandez upset marquee talents Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka to get to the final, but the glass slipper shattered on Saturday. “Unfortunately I just made one too many mistakes,’’ Fernandez said. “I think Emma noticed it and she just took advantage of it. Hopefully we’ll have many more finals. It definitely stinks but will make me work harder.’’
Because Raducanu’s ranking of 150th entering the event forced her to go through the qualifying tournament, Raducanu needed 10 matches to win the Open. And the Brit never dropped a set, not even in the qualifiers, making it 20 straight sets to conquer Flushing Meadows like no player has ever done before.
It started with no fans at the qualifiers (they weren’t permitted onto the grounds because of COVID-19) to a jam-packed Ashe Stadium.
“Even though on paper, I didn’t drop a set, I faced a lot of adversity,’’ Raducanu said.
In the broad picture, these are two new fresh-faced teenage stars on the circuit, making it even more difficult for Serena Williams to ever reach her last goal of trying Margaret Court for a record 24 majors.
Early on, the fans were yelling out Leylah’s name almost predominantly, but as the first set carried on, plenty of voices were heard yelling, “Let’s go, Emma!’’ They play similar consistent baseline games but the Brit’s serve is stronger.
Earlier this summer, Raducanu was the world’s 338th-ranked player, given a wild card into the main draw to her home major at Wimbledon. She became the youngest British woman to reach the fourth round in the Open era at the All England Club but still needed to qualify at Flushing Meadows.
“I managed to pull off the clutch plays when I needed to,’’ the newest British sensation said.