British teenager lands on top
18-year-old Raducanu becomes first qualifier to earn major tournament victory in Open era
NEW YORK — At every round of the U.S. Open, teenagers Emma Raducanu of Britain and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez rose to each challenge in their unlikely march to Saturday’s final.
But it was Raducanu, 18, who completed the improbable story line at Arthur Ashe Stadium by winning a battle of brave shot-making and defensive grit to claim the U.S. Open - her first Grand Slam championship — in her tournament debut, 6-4, 6-3.
Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title in the sport’s Open era. And she did it without conceding a set over 10 matches — three in the qualifying phase to simply earn a spot in the 128-player field, and seven during the tournament.
For the achievement, the recent high school graduate collected a $2.5 million check that will boost her year-to-date earnings of $268,191 roughly 10-fold. Fernandez, 19, collected $1.25 million as the runner-up.
As they embraced at the net after a final ace by Raducanu clinched the victory, they represented a striking portrait of what the future of women’s tennis may look like confident, creative, brave, and determined.
On another level, as cheering fans of each proudly held aloft British and Canadian flags in the stands of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Raducanu and Fernandez formed a powerful tableau of immigrant families seeking an opportunity to build a better life for their children.
Raducanu, whose mother is Chinese and father is Romanian, thanked her coaches, trainers, British tennis greats Virginia Wade and Tim Henman, and Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association for their support over the course of her career, which she sandwiched between her studies.
She also congratulated Fernandez on an outstanding tournament.
“She played some incredible tennis and beat some of the top players in the world,” Raducanu said. “It was a difficult match. I hope we play each other in many more tournaments and, hopefully, finals.”
Fernandez, whose father-coach is from Ecuador and mother is Filipino-Canadian, thanked her parents
and close-knit team for believing in her potential. And on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which occurred before she and Raducanu were born, she paid tribute to New York.
“I know this day was especially hard for New Yorkers and everyone around the United States,” Fernandez told the crowd, which had cheered her gutsy comebacks against top seeds all tournament and did its best to pull her through the second set Saturday. “I just hope I can be as strong and as resilient
as New York has been the past 20 years.”
They were the first teenagers to meet in the U.S. Open final since 1999, when Serena Williams won the first of her 23 major titles, at 17, over Martina Hingis, 18.
They were also the least likely in memory.
The 150th ranked Raducanu made her Grand Slam debut just two months prior, at Wimbledon, where she was forced to withdraw from her wildly hyped fourthround match after developing
breathing difficulties. The unseeded Fernandez, ranked 73rd, was competing in just her second U.S. Open.
The famously partisan U.S. Open crowd didn’t take sides in the contest - at least, not at the outset - but stood and applauded the achievement of each as they walked onto the court. Among the 23,703 fans were past U.S. Open champions Billie Jean King, for whom the venue is named; Wade, the last British woman to win a Grand Slam, in 1977; Kim Clijsters, Tracy Austin and Andy Roddick.
Raducanu served first and held with relative ease, then she broke Fernandez to take a 2-0 lead.
Fernandez dug in and battled back, as she had in four consecutive three-set battles against far more accomplished opponents. She broke back immediately to level the score.
Fernandez, who is generously listed as 5-feet-6, has developed weapons to compensate for her slight stature - sharply angled serves, back-spinning drop shots, and grit.
But for nearly every weapon Fernandez deployed, Raducanu, who is 5-9 and the more powerful hitter, had an answer. She had little trouble with Fernandez’s lefthanded serve. And she covered the court impressively when yanked side to side or coaxed forward by a drop shot.
Serving at 4-5, Fernandez fought off three set points before Raducanu clinched it with a forehand winner down the line.
From that point, the crowd got behind Fernandez, whether selfishly rooting for her to rally and extend the contest to three sets or simply favoring her moxie and prizefighter’s spirit.
Fernandez actively courted the crowd’s support as she mounted her second-set comeback, fighting off the understandable fatigue of her tough road to the final. She upset three top-five players in threeset battles - No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Naomi Osaka, and No. 5 Elina Svitolina - to earn the right to contest the U.S. Open final.
But her toughest hurdle, as it turned out, was the unheralded Raducanu, whom she had last faced in the second round of the 2018 Wimbledon junior tournament.
Raducanu won that contest. But Fernandez was stronger, fitter and more match-toughened when she arrived at the U.S. Open this year. And she gained confidence, deservedly so, with each victory.
Momentum rocked back and forth in the second set. They traded service breaks before Fernandez’s tricky left-handed serve began failing her.
In a must-hold service game at 2-5, Fernandez fended off two match points — the second, with a forehand winner down the line that whipped the crowd into a frenzy.