When this US Open started just two weeks ago, few would have bet on the final that was seen on Saturday on the Arthur Ashe of the New York complex. Emma raducanu and Leylah Fernandez they faced each other in a serious duel that ended up on the side of the former, but which ended up elevating both of them, who at 18 and 19 years old respectively gave a lesson in maturity.
The result of that duel is already known to all, with the triumph of the British who, arriving from the previous phase, without giving up a set and sealing the match with an ‘ace’, entered through the big door in the Olympus of tennis. All under the watchful eye of the legendary Virginia Wade, the only other British woman to have won the US Open.
Wade, who signed the title in 1968, was one of the luxury spectators in the stands of Flushing Meadows, very attentive to the evolution of the young star. Quite an honor for Raducanu, which has a great reference in his triumphs. “It is something special that she is here and I hope to follow in her footsteps in the future & rdquor ;, he stated Emma. “Putting my name next to a legend means a lot to me and what I want to achieve as a professional & rdquor ;.
His sister was also in the stands who, from the stands, asked him to smile. Even at the worst moment, at the end of the second set, with a break ball in favor of Fernández, with a knee injury and with the victory almost at the tips of his fingers.
And smiled. She tempered her nerves – those that failed her at Wimbledon, forcing her to leave in the second round due to pressure – capturing all eyes from up to four different countries. With a Romanian-born father, a Chinese mother, born in Toronto and raised in London, Raducanu He made all those nationalities smile that are reflected in his dark face and his slanted eyes.
The victory of globalization, as her rival, Leylah Fernández, also born in Canada and competing under that nationality, also kept an eye on Ecuador, where her father is from, and the Philippines, her mother’s birthplace.
An explosive cocktail that has resulted in the two most fashionable tennis players of the moment. For RaducanuIn addition, an explosive jump in the ranking, from position 150 where it started, to 23 where it will appear this Monday. Another success for the British woman who has recently graduated from high school with an Averages.
Moving on And if on the one hand the tears were of joy, on the other they appeared full of sadness, and perhaps anger for not having been able to change the course of the game. Leylah he unburdened himself at the end of the match, still unable to see the milestone that his passage through the tournament represents. The triumph over that school teacher who urged her to give up tennis, because that would not give her a living. And despite everything, the young Canadian remembered the victims of 9/11 on the anniversary of the attacks. “Hopefully I will be as resilient as you have been, New York,” he told the audience.