Raducanu jumps 127 spots with Open win

Raducanu’s qualifier-to-champion run at the U.S. Open vaulted her 127 spots in the WTA rankings to a career-high No.23 on Monday.

The 18-year-old from Britain began the year ranked 345th, rose to 179th in July by reaching Wimbledon’s fourth round in her Grand Slam debut and arrived at Flushing Meadows at 150th. Then Raducanu won all 20 sets she played across 10 victories — three in qualifying and seven in the main draw — to become the youngest woman to win a major championship since Maria Sharapova was 17 at Wimbledon in 2004.

Raducanu is the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.

The player she beat, 6-4, 6-3, in the final Saturday, 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada, also made a big jump in the rankings, going from 73rd to a career-best 28th.

Ash Barty and Aryna Sabalenka stayed at Nos. 1 and 2, while 2018 and 2020 U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka slid from No.3 to No. 5 after losing in the third round to Fernandez.

USC FIRES COACH

Southern California fired football coach Clay Helton on Monday, two games into his seventh season in charge.

Athletic director Mike Bohn made the move two days after an embarrassing 42-28 home loss to Stanford that dropped the Trojans (1-1, 0-1 Pac-12) out of the AP Top 25.

Donte Williams, the Trojans’ cornerbacks coach and associate head coach, is taking over as head coach. Williams, a Los Angeles-area native and the first Black head coach in USC football history, joined the program in 2020 and has played a major role in the Trojans’ significant recruiting advancements over the past two cycles.

SURGERY FOR A&M QB

Texas A&M quarterback Haynes

is out indefinitely after having surgery to repair his broken right leg, suffered early in the seventh-ranked Aggies’ 10-7 victory at Colorado over the weekend.

Coach Jimbo Fisher said Monday that King’s surgery to repair a broken tibia went well.