US Open 2021: Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez fix sensational finals
Teenage finals at the US Open: Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu , completely surprisingly, duel for the title at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year.
by SID
last edit: Sep 10, 2021, 06:19 am
The 19-year-old Canadian Fernandez prevailed in her semifinals despite initial problems against Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, number two in the world rankings, 7: 6 (7: 3), 4: 6, 6: 4. The 18-year-old Briton Raducanu followed her with a dominant 6: 1, 6: 4 win against the Greek Maria Sakkari.
"I really wanted to reach the final so, so badly," said Fernandez: "Aryna wanted it too. I don't even know how the last ball went in." Raducanu said: "I can't believe it. I'm a qualifier, so I have no paper pressure in the final."
Fernandez throws Kerber out
For the first time in 22 years, there are two teenagers in the New York final, which will take place on Saturday (10 p.m. / Eurosport). In 1999 Serena Williams (USA) prevailed against Martina Hingis (Switzerland).
On the way to her first big title match, Fernandez eliminated the four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka from Japan, the German number one Angelique Kerber and the world number five Elina Switolina from Ukraine. Raducanu is still without a set loss in the entire tournament and is the first qualifier to ever make it into the final of a major.