Tennis
Debuting teenager reaches US Open final
British teenager Emma Raducanu reached the US Open final as her meteoric rise continued with a stunning straight-set win over Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari in New York.
Raducanu, 18, extended her dream run with a 6-1 6-4 victory in which her dominance again almost defied belief.
She is the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final and will play another teenager Leylah Fernandez on Saturday.
Raducanu is the first British woman in a major singles final in 44 years.
Watched on by Virginia Wade – the last woman to achieve that feat at Wimbledon in 1977 – Raducanu produced another fearless and ruthless victory that stunned those watching on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
After confidently swatting away a volley on her first match point, Raducanu immediately dropped her racquet on the court and covered her mouth with both hands.
Quickly she broke out into a beaming smile before lapping up the acclaim of a rapturous crowd on the world’s biggest tennis court.
“The time in New York has gone so quickly, I’ve been taking care of each day and three weeks later I’m in the final. I actually can’t believe it,” Raducanu said.
After coming through three qualifying matches to reach the main draw, she has not dropped a set in any of her nine matches at Flushing Meadows.
It is only Raducanu’s second Grand Slam tournament and the fourth tour-level event of her career.
Additionally, Raducanu is:
- the youngest British Grand Slam finalist in 62 years, since Christine Truman reached the French Open final aged 18 in 1959
- the first British woman to reach a US Open final in 53 years, following Wade in 1968
- only the fourth British woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open era
Before her run to the Wimbledon last 16 earlier this summer, Raducanu was ranked 336th in the world.
This win puts her on the verge of the top 30 after already being assured of becoming the British women’s number one by reaching the last four at Flushing Meadows.
Most pertinently, it gives the London teenager – who also passed her A Levels this summer – the opportunity to win one of tennis’ most prestigious titles when she faces Canadian 19-year-old world number 73 Fernandez at 21:00 BST on Saturday.
Given the one-sided nature of the victory against Sakkari – and those before it – Raducanu will not be fazed by the occasion.
Argentina’s 36-year-old Marco Trungelliti proved tennis dreams do not come with an expiration date when he became the oldest first-time tour-level finalist in the Open Era after beating the top seed at the Grand Prix Hassan II semi-finals in Marrakech on Saturday.
Trungelliti, who came through the tournament’s qualifiers, upset Italy’s defending champion Luciano Darderi 6-4 7-6(2) to break the previous record held by Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic, who reached his first final aged 34 years in 2015.
Darderi, ranked 19 in the world, was only six-years-old when Trungelliti turned pro in 2008. With the victory, Trungelliti secured just his second career top-20 win.
“Of course, I believed it, that’s one of the reasons that I’m here. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible,” Trungelliti said in the on-court interview.
“I’ve worked a lot, me and my team and also my wife, my kid. We all believed in breaking the record basically and that’s exactly what we have done now.”
The milestone caps a remarkable journey for Trungelliti, who made his first ATP Tour semi-final in 2018 in Umag, Croatia – 402 weeks ago.
Having entered the tournament ranked 117 in the world, Trungelliti’s breakthrough week has already guaranteed he will crack the top 100 for the first time. He is currently ranked number 75 in the live rankings.
“It’s been happening the whole week, leaving the court with a victory,” added Trungelliti, who has dropped only one set at the tournament. “So hopefully (there) is one more to go.”
He will face Rafael Jodar on Sunday after the Spaniard prevented an all-Argentine final with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has been listed as eligible to return to tennis by the sport’s drug-testing body (ITIA) as of February 22, though it remains unclear whether the 23-time Grand Slam champion will make a stunning comeback to the women’s tour.
The 44-year-old raised eyebrows late last year after rejoining the tennis anti-doping testing pool, though she denied at the time the move signalled she was preparing to return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
She reignited speculation last month when she deflected questions about a possible return during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show.
The Women’s Tennis Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has re-entered the tennis anti-doping testing pool but the 23-times Grand Slam champion denied on Tuesday that the move had anything to do with her making a return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed to Reuters that Williams, who has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open, was among the list of players in its testing pool, which requires individuals to provide their whereabouts at any given time, every day, and participate in random testing
But as the story of 44-year-old Williams’ inclusion on the list, first reported earlier on Tuesday by The Athletic, gained traction and sparked talk about her potential return, the tennis great took to social media to deny a comeback was in her plans.
“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” Williams wrote on X.
Her agent did not immediately respond to an email from Reuters asking why the player had re-entered the testing pool.
Williams’ name appears on the ITIA website’s list of retired players and would be able to return to a sanctioned event after making herself available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months.
Last week former world number one Williams posted a series of photos on Instagram showing herself on a tennis court with her youngest daughter, Adira River, whom she gave birth to in August 2023.
In August 2022, ahead of her final U.S. Open, Williams announced in a Vogue article that she was “evolving away from tennis.”
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, had been chasing an elusive 24th crown that would have drawn her level with Australian Margaret Court, who holds the record.
The American came tantalisingly close to achieving that feat, featuring in four major finals since giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017.
-Reuters
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