Two teenagers. In a major final. Not since the 1999 U.S. Open final between Serena Williams and Martina Hingis has this taken place. 18-year-old Emma Raducanu and 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez have taken the year’s last major by an absolute storm, compellingly winning six matches each this fortnight. Rarely does the cliché “it’s a shame someone has to lose” not fall flat, but here it holds up — it is truly difficult to imagine either player losing on Saturday, both because of their glorious stories and because of the way they have marched through their respective draws.
Fernandez and Raducanu have had a huge hand in making this tournament so spellbinding partly due to the vastly different attributes they have brought to the table. Raducanu, whose ranking of 150th in the world saw her have to go through qualifying, has simply dominated. She has lost a paltry 27 games in her six main draw matches — an average of 4.5 per contest. Her penetrating groundstrokes have proved too heavy for her opponents, including the expert defender Sara Sorribes Tormo and Maria Sakkari, who was in incredible form prior to their semifinal.
Raducanu’s dissection of Sakkari was veteran-like. A huge battle seemed at hand early — Raducanu took a 3-0 lead, but Sakkari had been serving poorly and had produced seven break points in her young opponent’s first two service games. Though the poised Raducanu saved them all, one wondered if the match would tighten significantly as it wore on.
Raducanu was having none of this. Indeed, she didn’t even face another break point after holding for 3-0 in the first. When the struggling Sakkari dug in for two immense holds of serve from multiple break points down at 1-3 and 2-4 in the second set, Raducanu calmly answered them with brutally easy holds of her own. And after falling behind love-15 when serving for the match, she evened the game with a service winner before going on a rampage with her forehand, crushing two winners and forcing an error. She flew through the finishing tape rather than sag against it in weary elation.
Fernandez’s run has been practically the inverse. She has taken down some of the biggest scalps the tournament had to offer — most notably defending champion Naomi Osaka and second seed Aryna Sabalenka, but also a host of other dangerous opponents — but has had to push herself to the brink to do so, while Raducanu has been pushed far less, but against less imposing opposition.
Fernandez turned myriad heads when she toppled Osaka. After pushing against the imperious Osaka serve for the best part of two sets to no avail, the then-18-year-old broke the defending champion when she served for the match. Fernandez went on to win the tiebreak, and her needle-precise serve proved impossible for Osaka to break in the third set. The young Canadian then outlasted three-time major champion Angelique Kerber in a high-quality three setter, then edged fifth seed Elina Svitolina in yet another heavyweight clash.
No one would have been surprised if Aryna Sabalenka had proved too much tonight. Fernandez’s legs were carrying the residue of a trio of brutal three-setters and Sabalenka had vastly more experience as well as a lot more easy power. And for three games, it looked as if this were the case. The second seed blasted unreturned serves and broke Fernandez immediately after winning a stunning 24-shot rally with a forehand winner.
It is a testament to the mental strength of Fernandez that she was able to get into this match. Staying calm, she served well to hold for 1-3, then gradually pulled even as Sabalenka’s first serve started to misfire. At 5-6, she did profit from a Sabalenka unforced error on her set point, then again in the tiebreak as the Belarusian went on tilt. But Fernandez reached the tiebreak with the help of a curling forehand winner, then produced a great defensive lob at 4-3 in the breaker that provoked an errant smash.
Fernandez survived a patch of great play from Sabalenka that tied the set at 4-all, then pieced together a strong hold to force Sabalenka to serve to stay in the match. The second seed simply couldn’t handle the pressure, and succumbed after two double faults and two first ball errors after a pair of good returns from Fernandez.
While Raducanu has blitzed opponents with crisp, raw power, Fernandez has relied more on high-margin hitting, often taking part in stunning cat-and-mouse points that highlight her great defense. Raducanu is righty while Fernandez is lefty. One has romped while the other has battled, but so far this tournament, each has always emerged victorious.
Again, two teenagers. Both of them playing tennis and resisting adversity with the poise of those a decade older. While only one can claim the title, the story of the women’s 2021 U.S. Open will forever be shared by both.
And despite the fact that one will technically walk away from the tournament a loser, Raducanu and Fernandez are both champions.