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NEW YORK – Unranked British teenager Emma Raducanu went from qualifying to US Open champion in her second appearance at a Grand Slam tournament.
Raducanu beat Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in the final at Flushing Meadows on Saturday to become the first player to make the preliminary rounds to a major title in the professional age.
Raducanu, 18, ranked 150th, has won all 20 sets she has played in New York – six in qualifying, 14 in the main draw – and is the first woman to win the singles championship without losing one since Serena Williams in 2014.
It was the first major final between two teenagers since Williams, 17, defeated Martina Hingis, 18, at the 1999 US Open and the first between two unranked women.
Raducanu broke to go up 4-2 in the second set, held for 5-2 and twice was a point to win the title in the next game. But she let those two opportunities slip away by putting groundstrokes into the net.
Then at 5-3, as Raducanu served for the game, she slipped down the court chasing a ball to her backhand, bloodying her left knee. A coach came out to put a white bandage on the cut and, for a delay of more than four minutes, Fernandez – a 19-year-old southpaw from Canada ranked 73rd – spoke to chair umpire Marijana Veljovic.
When they resumed, Raducanu saved a pair of break points, then converted on his third chance to close it, ending an ace of 108 mph. She dropped her racquet, landed on her back and covered her face with both hands.
Raducanu is the first British woman to win a Grand Slam trophy since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
She is also the youngest player to win a major women’s title since Maria Sharapova was 17 at Wimbledon in 2004.
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