Sep 11, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Emma Raducanu of Great Britain reacts after winning the first set 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
By Steve Keating
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Britain’s Emma Raducanu completed a Grand Slam fairytale on Saturday by beating Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-3 in the battle of the teens to be crowned U.S. Open champion.
The 18-year-old became the first ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam title and the first British woman to hoist a major trophy since Virginia Wade triumphed at Wimbledon in 1977.
The first Grand Slam final — men or women — to be contested by two unseeded players was an improbable matchup that no one could have predicted, featuring 150th-ranked qualifier Raducanu and little-known Fernandez ranked 73rd.
All the more remarkable was that Raducanu’s march to the title required 10 matches, including three wins in qualifying, and she did it without dropping a single set along the way.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
