Sep 11, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Emma Raducanu of Great Britain celebrates after her match against Leylah Fernandez of Canada (not pictured) in the women’s singles final on day thirteen of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
September 11, 2021
(Reuters) – Factbox on Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who beat Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-3 in the U.S. Open final on Saturday to win her first Grand Slam title:
Age: 18
Nation: Britain
WTA ranking: 150
Seeding: Unseeded
Grand Slam titles: 1 (U.S. Open 2021)
ROAD TO FINAL
First round: beat Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 6-2 6-3
Second round: beat Shuai Zhang (China) 6-2 6-4
Third round: beat Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) 6-0 6-1
Fourth round: beat Shelby Rogers (U.S.) 6-2 6-1
Quarter-finals: beat 11-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) 6-3 6-4
Semi-finals: beat 17-Maria Sakkari (Greece) 6-1 6-4
EARLY LIFE
* Born to a Romanian father and Chinese mother in Toronto, Canada, Raducanu moved to London aged two and started playing tennis aged five.
CAREER TO DATE
* Turned professional in 2018, reaching the top 20 at the junior level.
* Won three International Tennis Federation titles.
* Made her WTA tournament debut at the grasscourt event in Nottingham in June 2021.
* Came to prominence when she made her Grand Slam main draw debut at Wimbledon in July 2021. After entering the tournament as a wildcard ranked 338th in the world, she progressed to the fourth round where she retired against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic after suffering breathing difficulties.
* Reached final of the WTA 125K event in Chicago in August 2021.
* Qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open main draw after posting straight set wins in all three qualifying rounds.
* Ranked 150th in the world, she became first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title. She won the U.S. Open title without dropping a set — either in qualifying or in her seven main draw matches.
* Became the first British woman to win the U.S. Open since Virginia Wade triumphed in 1968 and the first to capture a Grand Slam title since Wade won Wimbledon in 1977.
* Projected to move up to 24th in the world rankings on Monday after winning the U.S. Open, ending Johanna Konta’s 310-week reign as the top ranked British woman.
(Compiled by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
