Qualifier To Champion: Britain’s Raducanu, 18, Wins US Open
Sep 11, 2021, 8:08 PM
Emma Raducanu of Great Britain celebrates with the championship trophy after defeating Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada during their Women's Singles final match on Day Thirteen of the 2021 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 11, 2021 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (AP) — British teenager Emma Raducanu has beaten Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in the U.S. Open final to become the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era.
The 18-year-old Raducanu is ranked 150th and needed to win three matches during preliminary rounds just to get into the main draw.
Emma Raducanu's storybook run ends with the 🏆 in New York! pic.twitter.com/esLsw4TQNY
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2021
Saturday’s victory capped a run in which she won all 20 sets she played at Flushing Meadows.
Raducanu was participating in only her second Grand Slam tournament.
This was the first major final between two teens since Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis at the 1999 U.S. Open and the first between two unseeded women in the professional era.
