Emma Raducanu reaches US Open final in New York

Place: Flushing Meadows, New York Dated: August 30-September 12
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British teenager Emma Raducanu reached the US Open final as her meteoric rise continued with a stunning straight-set victory over Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari in New York.

She is the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final and will face another teenager, Leylah Fernandez, on Saturday.

Raducanu is the first British woman to make a major singles final in 44 years.

Watched by Virginia Wade – the last woman to achieve this feat at Wimbledon in 1977 – Raducanu produced another fearless and ruthless victory that stunned spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After confidently repelling a volley on his first match point, Raducanu immediately dropped his racquet onto the field and covered his mouth with both hands.

Quickly, she smiled radiantly before enjoying the praise of a thrilled crowd on the world’s largest tennis court.

“The time in New York has gone by so fast, I take care of every day and three weeks later I’m in the final. In fact, I can’t believe it,” said Raducanu.

After making three qualifying matches to reach the main draw, she hasn’t lost a set in any of her nine appearances at Flushing Meadows.

This is only Raducanu’s second Grand Slam tournament and the fourth round-level event of his career.

In addition, Raducanu is:

• the youngest British Grand Slam finalist in 62 years, since Christine Truman reached the Roland Garros final at age 18 in 1959
• the first British woman to reach a US Open final in 53 years, after Wade in 1968
• only the fourth British woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open era

Heading into her final 16 Wimbledon run earlier this summer, Raducanu was ranked 336th in the world.

The win puts her on the edge of the top 30 after already securing herself to become Britain’s No. 1 women by reaching the bottom four at Flushing Meadows.

More relevantly, it gives the London teenager – who also passed her A-level this summer – the opportunity to win one of tennis’s most prestigious titles when she takes on 19-year-old Canadian world number 73 Fernandez. at 9:00 p.m. BST Saturday.

Given the one-sided nature of the victory over Sakkari – and those who came before him – Raducanu will not be fazed by the opportunity.

Quick start pays off for Raducanu

Reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon on her Grand Slam debut catapulted Raducanu to stardom, but she managed to surpass what she achieved there with the extraordinary feats of New York.

Once again, she took down a much more experienced opponent with such ease that it breathtakingly belied her age and experience.

Former Britain number one Greg Rusedski said his performance against Sakkari was “worthy of a world number one”.

Roland-Garros semi-finalist Sakkari, like her opponents before her, was taken aback by Raducanu’s poise and execution. The Greek, who was also aiming to reach her first Grand Slam final, could not cope with Raducanu’s intensity and could not find a solution to cancel it.

Raducanu faced seven break points in his first two service games, seeing them both hold and take a 3-0 lead with a break sandwiched in between.

Sakkari became frustrated with her inability to seize her opportunities, hopping into her box and complaining to the referee before running off to swap her skirt on the first change.

Contrary to Sakkari’s anxious demeanor, Raducanu seemed completely indifferent to the occasion.

This continued as the Briton, supported by a few fans dressed in Union Jack colors and waving flags, won all the deciding points to take the opening set in 36 minutes.

Finishing without nerves as Henman provides inspiration

Being the favorite is a position Raducanu has grown used to in Flushing Meadows and once they beat to a 2-1 lead in the second set there seemed to be little setback for Sakkari.

Pressure continued to be applied in each of the Greek’s next two service games – but she managed to keep and maintain hope by remaining a single outage.

As the Greek player’s family seemed increasingly tense as they watched, Sakkari saved five break points in a capital catch of almost 10 minutes for 4-3.

After exchanging catches, Raducanu then had the opportunity to serve for the match.

A capricious forehand gave Sakkari the advantage 15-0, before Raducanu found a first serve that couldn’t be returned and led to a roar of “Come on!” », Which signaled the relief of the Briton.

A nerfless forehand to the line was timed to perfection for 30-15 and another penetrating baseline return set up match point.

With a berth for the US Open final, there was no sign of nervousness as she sealed the victory with a forehand volley.

Afterward, Raducanu said she turned to former Britain number one Tim Henman, standing next to the court in his role as TV analyst, for reassuring support before serving on match point. .

“Tim is honestly such a big inspiration, he used to tell me to deal with it one point at a time,” she said.

“At times like this, you definitely can’t get ahead of yourself and you have to stay present.

“I am grateful to Tim for all he has done for British tennis and for me.”

New York teenage kicks signal changing of the guard

Earlier in Thursday night’s session, Canadian teenager Fernandez sealed her place in the final by shocking second-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

Unranked Fernandez, who turned 19 on Monday, won 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 to advance a tense semi-final.

Raducanu’s victory then set up the eighth Grand Slam Final of the Teen Open Era.

This is the first since the 1999 US Open, when US hopeful Serena Williams defeated Switzerland’s Martina Hingis.

The success of Raducanu and Fernandez crowns a tournament where a host of young stars have filled the void of several big names – including Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – with superb performances.

Martina Navratilova, 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, said Raducanu and Fernandez’s success was a “changing of the guard” moment.

What Raducanu achieved “does not seem real” – reaction

British player Naomi Broady on BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m just speechless, I’m so happy for her. It wasn’t Maria Sakkari’s night out, but it was the pressure Emma Raducanu put on her from the start.

“She had those seven break points, Maria Sakkari, and she couldn’t take one. From that point on, Raducanu ran away with the match.

“Is it exciting? We have every right to be excited about this, we are not British and ahead of ourselves – it’s amazing!”

Russell Fuller, BBC New York tennis correspondent: “Emma Raducanu gives the impression of reaching an incredibly easy Grand Slam final.

“You think of the players who, since Virginia Wade in 1977, have been trying to reach a Grand Slam final for Great Britain in women’s football – Johanna Konta came very close to Roland Garros in 2019 and Jo Durie too, half -finalist at the US Open among other appearances at this stage of a Grand Slam.

“Yet Emma Raducanu did it on her second Grand Slam attempt and took our breath away with the way she has played throughout this summer. It doesn’t feel real.”