In the end, Emma Raducanu did exactly what she expected. She didn’t just claim the United States Open championship; she rose to the top of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year without dropping a single set or even reaching a tie-breaker. And, lest we forget, she’s a qualifier to boot. Never was she threatened; the only time she came remotely close to surrendering a set was in the second of her three required pre-event matches, during which she was stretched to 12 games. That’s how transcendent her title campaign was in the fortnight and change she graced Flushing Meadows with her presence.
Indeed, Raducanu played beyond her years. She’s still two months removed from her 19th birthday, and yet her every step exuded the confidence typically reserved for proven veterans. True, she faced only two seeded opponents en route, and no higher than 11th. Then again, there can be no discounting the aplomb with which she hurdled the obstacles placed before her. She had power, yes — a requisite in this day and age of booming serves and groundstrokes. More importantly, though, she relied on an unwavering self-assurance to prevail.
In many ways, the same can be said of Raducanu’s fellow finalist Leylah Fernandez, who survived tough three-setters against such notables as Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina, and Aryna Sabalenka en route to yesterday’s final. That said, she knew and understood how to use the same tools better. Make that much, much better. Not for nothing did she spend the early part of the set-to assessing the challenge in front of her, and then promptly pull away; she won in eight of the last 11 games to stake her claim as the best of the best on the acrylic-topped Laykold surface.
No doubt, Raducanu’s sterling run to the fourth round of Wimbledon in July as a wild card entry helped steel her nerves for her historic ascent in the US Open. She became the first woman from Great Britain to win a major title since Virginia Wade did so in 1977 as the third seed at the All England Club, and the first ever in the annals of the sport to do so after needing to fight for a spot in the main draw. And given how she comported herself on the court from the get-go, she didn’t seem overwhelmed by the moment. At all. As she noted heading into the final, “Is there any expectation? I’m a qualifier.”
Raducanu was, of course, being disingenuous — because if there was anything that separated her from the field, and even from Fernandez, it was her utter refusal to be fazed by circumstance. She firmly believed that no mountain was too high to climb, and then set off to show all and sundry why.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.