Two unseeded youngsters – Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez – defied the percentages as they competed for the US Open ladies’s singles title on Saturday as first-time Grand Slam finalists.
In the long run, it was Nice Britain’s 18-year-old Raducanu who got here out on high, defeating Canada’s Fernandez, 19, in straight units, 6-4, 6-3.
Raducanu is the primary qualifier in historical past to win a Grand Slam, the primary British girl to win the US Open singles title since Virginia Wade in 1968, and the youngest feminine participant to win a Grand Slam title since a 17-year-old Maria Sharapova received Wimbledon in 2004.
Each ladies had a historic run to get to the ultimate. Raducanu beat a pair of top-20 gamers (No. 11 Belinda Bencic and No. 17 Maria Sakkari) within the quarterfinals and semifinals, whereas Fernandez beat two former US Open champions (No. 3 Naomi Osaka and No. 16 Angelique Kerber) within the third and fourth rounds, adopted by two top-five gamers (No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka).
Listed here are the highest moments from the primary all-teen US Open closing since 1999!
It was a star-studded occasion at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Proper out of the gate, Raducanu took an early 2-0 lead.
However Fernandez wasted no time hanging again, leveling up the primary set at 2-2.
Each ladies placed on a present, but it surely was Raducanu who edged previous Fernandez to seize the opener 6-4.
And identical to that, it was one set down, one to go.
Fernandez got here out swinging within the second set, saving a triple-break level to carry for 1-1 early on.
Raducanu shortly went up 5-2, however Fernandez did not stop.
She pulled off an important maintain to remain alive and pull inside 5-3 …
… And with momentum on her facet, Fernandez battled to present herself an opportunity to interrupt Raducanu’s serve.
However Raducanu skinned her knee on the play and wanted an damage timeout to stem the stream of blood. When she returned to motion, Raducanu rallied to complete out the set 6-3 to win the match.
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