By Regina Elaine Vendivil

In a youth-infused match between two unseeded players, Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu saluted as the champion with her first Grand Slam title after conquering Filipino-Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3, in the Women’s US Open final last Saturday, September 11, 2021, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

Raducanu closed the match in two straight sets, becoming the first qualifier and first British woman in 44 years to take home the US Open Grand Slam title. 

The match was intense from the start, with the first set charged with the blasts of combination plays from both teenagers, but ended after Raducana seized the lead 58 minutes into the game. 

The heart-stopping second set was filled with multiple deuces, but the British player squeaked past Fernandez to 5-3. 

Towards the end of the match, Raducanu came back strong from a medical timeout, after skinning her knee in a lunge on the baseline, with a momentous service ace, wrapping up the championships with 6-3. 

“It was an incredibly difficult match, but I thought the level was extremely high,” said Raducanu. “Staying in the moment, focusing on what I had to do and my process and the mindset just really helped in those tough times,” she added. 

The 18-year old phenomenon had a remarkable run in the US Open without dropping a set throughout the whole US hardcourt tennis tournament. 

“From pretty early on I’ve always dreamed of winning a Grand Slam… But to have the belief I did in actually executing it, I can’t believe it,” said Raducanu. 

Raducanu, ranked 150th, takes the $2.5 million (2.1 million euro) top prize after making tennis history. 

On the other hand, 73rd-ranked Fernandez had an epic and tight journey towards the final match after ousting world No. 3 defending champion Naomi Osaka, 6-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4, last September 4.

“I’m very proud of myself the way I played the last two weeks,” said Fernandez. “I hope to be back here in the finals and having the right trophy.”

This was the first all-teen Slam finals match in 22 years since the showdown between 17-year-old Serena Williams and 18-year-old Martina Hingis for the 1999 US Open crown, which was dominated by world No. 22 Williams. 

“Both of us (Raducanu and Fernandez) were playing fearless tennis for two weeks… I hope we play each other in many more tournaments and hopefully finals.” claimed the Grand Slam champion.

References:

Aishwarya Kumar. (2021, September 11). US Open: Emma Raducanu becomes first British woman in 44 years to win Grand Slam title. ESPN. Retrieved from https://tv5.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/32190565/emma-raducanu-becomes-first-qualifer-win-grand-slam-title 

Church, B. (2021, September 11). Britain’s Emma Raducanu defeats Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in all-teen US Open final. CNN. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/11/tennis/us-open-womens-final-raducanu-fernandez-spt-intl/index.html 

‌Go, B. (2021, September 4). Fil-Canadian Leylah Fernandez shocks Naomi Osaka in US Open 3rd round. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/sports/us-open-match-results-leylah-fernandez-naomi-osaka-september-3-2021 

Reuters. (2021, September 11). Fernandez falls as Raducanu sweeps way to US Open title. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/sports/us-open-finals-match-results-leylah-fernandez-emma-raducanu-september-11-2021 

‌Slater, J. (2021, September 11). Raducanu tops Leylah Fernandez to win US Open title. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved from https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/12/21/raducanu-tops-leylah-fernandez-to-win-us-open-title 

Photo Source: Getty Images

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