18-year-old Emma Raducanu made history on Thursday night at Flushing Meadows by becoming the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 44 years. The teen defeated 17th seed Maria Sakkari in straight sets, 6-1 6-4, to reach the final of the US Open.
Raducanu, who was unseeded prior to the tournament, had to go through the qualifiers to enter the main draw of the US Open. She became the first singles star to enter the final of a singles Grand Slam after progressing from the qualifiers. No male or female singles star has achieved this feat in the history of Grand Slam tennis.
An ecstatic Raducanu thanked her team and the fans back home in Great Britain.
“While I have the moment, I just really want to thank my team, the LTA, and everyone back home for their support – I wouldn’t be here without it. Tonight, playing under the lights on Arthur Ashe, it’s one of the most iconic things in tennis and I was just so excited to come out here and play in front of you guys. Thank you for coming,” Raducanu said.
She also believes that she is under no pressure going into the final as she is a qualifier and has no expectations.
“I mean, is there any expectation? I’m a qualifier, so technically on paper there’s no pressure on me,” said the 18-year-old.
Raducanu will face another teenager in the final, 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez. Fernandez reached the final after defeating 23-year-old Belarusian, Aryna Sabalenka. Like Raducanu, this will be the first Grand Slam final that Fernandez will also be playing in. But, Fernandez has won a WTA tournament, which came earlier this year when she won the Monterrey Open. Raducanu, on the other hand, hadn’t reached the final of a WTA tournament before achieving the feat on Thursday.
Raducanu was born in Canada but immigrated to Great Britain at the age of two. She defeated 2020 Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals to book her place in the final four of the US Open.
The last time that another British female star reached the final of a Grand Slam was in 1977 when Virginia Wade reached the final of Wimbledon – and won it. Wade was in the stands to watch Raducanu make history at the US Open, and she will probably be present on Saturday when the 18-year-old could create more history.
