US Open 2021 stats: Emma Raducanu becomes first British woman to win a major in 44 years

Emma Raducanu completed her historic run through the US Open by beating Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 for her first Grand Slam title. Raducanu was already the first player in the professional era, dating to 1968, to come through the qualifying rounds to reach the final of a major tournament. The 18-year-old from Britain then won it, becoming the youngest Grand Slam champion since 17-year-old Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004. In just her second Grand Slam tournament, Raducanu ended the tournament as the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to not drop a set in the US Open. She closed out the match after needing a medical timeout during her service game for treatment after cutting her knee. Fernandez knocked out three top-five players en route to the final but couldn’t find the energy for a comeback after playing four straight three-set matches. A quick look at the stats after Raducanu’s breakthrough win: # Emma Raducanu was already the first qualifier to reach a Slam final. She is now the first major champion to come through the qualifying rounds. # Coming into the final, Raducanu had dropped just 27 games all fortnight without conceding a set. That run continued in the final where she dropped seven games without losing a set. The last player to triumph at Flushing Meadows without conceding a set was Serena Williams, who surrendered only 32 games during her title run in 2014 # Raducanu has now won a Grand Slam title in just her second appearance at a major. She made a breakthrough appearance at Wimbledon before going out in the fourth round. Monica Seles, Andreescu needed four Slam appearances before winning their first major. Pam Shriver also made the final in just her second major appearance but lost at the 1978 US Open # Raducanu is the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Wade in 1977. Wade had, who was present for the final, won her first major title in New York in 1968 # Raducanu will climb to World No 23 with the title. She had entered the tournament outside as World No 150. Fernandez, ranked 73rd in the world at the start, will rise to World No 27 # Raducanu is yet to win a WTA tour-level match, play a three-setter at the WTA level, compete on clay, enter a Grand Slam directly or collectively play five tour-level events. Her biggest title previously was the $25K in Pune. # Raducanu, 18, and Fernandez, 19, was the first all-teenage Grand Slam final since the 1999 US Open. Martina Hingis and Serena Williams had played that final in New York. This was the ninth women’s final between two teenagers, with three of the previous eight taking place at the US Open. # Leylah Fernandez is the third Canadian woman in a Grand Slam final champion in the Open Era, after 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu and Eugenie Bouchard at 2014 Wimbledon (With AP inputs)