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Emma Raducanu of Great Britain celebrates the winning match point to defeat Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada in the second set of their women’s singles final match on Day 13 of the 2021 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 11, 2021 (Photo by Elsa / Getty Images)
Elsa | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Emma Raducanu became the first British woman in 44 years to win a Grand Slam singles title.
The 18-year-old dominated Leylah Fernandez, a 19-year-old Canadian, winning 6-4 6-3 in the US Open final.
Their confrontation lasted an hour and 51 minutes, was the first big tennis final between two teenagers in 22 years.
Saturday night’s game saw a dramatic final as Raducanu was forced to have medical time out after skidding on the pitch and injuring her leg as she ran to return a ball.
This is an extraordinary and unprecedented achievement for Raducanu, who entered the US Open ranked 150th in the world.
She hasn’t lost a set throughout the tournament, playing a total of 10 games including three in qualifying.
No qualifier had ever reached a slam final before – and besides being the first woman to win a title in as few as two tournaments, Raducanu is also the youngest champion since Maria Sharapova triumphed at Wimbledon in 2004 .
Every trade between Raducanu and Fernandez has been hard-fought, with the two women reading each other’s matches in a way their previous opponents have failed to do.
The last British woman to wield a major tennis trophy was Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
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