Emma Raducanu goes past Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams to top this record list
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Emma Raducanu with the US Open trophy
Emma Raducanu, the 18-year old British teen sensation defeated 19-year old Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the finals of the US Open 2021 to become just the 3rd teenager to win the Grand Slam in New York since 2000 joining Maria Sharapova (2006, 19 years old) and Bianca Andreescu (2019, 19 years old) as the only other two teens to win it in the last 21 years.
Emma began her journey in New York from the qualifiers as she was ranked World No. 150 before the tournament, went on to win the title without dropping a set in any of the 10 matches she played and need not even need a tie-breaker to win the sets. In doing so, Emma added created another record beating the likes of Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.
Emma who was playing just the 2nd Grand Slam of her career now holds the distinction of winning a Grand Slam title in the least number of attempts overtaking Canadian Bianca Andreescu who held the record earlier having won the 2019 US Open title in just her 4th Grand Slam appearance.
Single-digit Grand Slams played before the first title:
- 2 – Emma Raducanu
- 4 – Bianca Andreescu
- 6 – Rafael Nadal/ Iga Swiatek
- 7 – Serena Williams/ Maria Sharapova
- 8 – Jelena Ostapenko
- 9 – Martina Hingis
Emma Raducanu jumps 127 spots in the WTA rankings
With her glorious run at the US Open 2021, Raducanu who entered the tournament as the World No. 150 and after being confirmed as the winner, she is expected to rise 117 places and be the new World No. 23 when the rankings are updated next week.
This will also make Emma the highest-ranked British woman in the WTA rankings as the next British woman is Heather Watson who is expected to move 5 spots ahead to World No. 59. Emma also became the lowest-ranked winner at the US Open since Kim Clijsters won the Slam in 2009 being unranked before entering the tournament as she had not played 3 tournaments which was the then criteria.
With Emma just in her 1st season on the WTA Tour despite turning Pro back in 2018, things are looking great for the teenager who will now be followed closely by millions after her outstanding display at the US Open.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)