How on earth did Raducanu win the USO 2021?

[PSNELKE]

Serious question as I didn't follow the tournament. Apparently she played 10 matches at the USO 2021, including the qualifiers. She didn't lose a single set and never even got pushed to a Tie Breaker. Watching her right now against an out of form and out of shape Ons Jabeur and honestly...she's so bad. That USO was well over two years ago now and it looks like it might be the only tournament she will ever win, which is crazy.

Is it possible to ride on momentum for an average player through an entire major tournament and thus winning it all?

 

[Federev]

If I remember correctly she had a really good run at WB for her age that year. So she was definitely playing well.

She also was playing w a stable and long term coach (again - if I recall correctly).

I think she’s a very talented player who was in the right time and the right place, but has since been overwhelmed w a lack of maturing in her game, a lot of coaching changes, massive amounts of media attention, and injuries.

 

[norcal]

Petchey was saying (last night?) he thinks she will still win 4-5 slams. I'm not a Emma hater at all but not sure where he's seeing that...

 

[Kralingen]

She played well, very well, she got on a heater during quallies and just never dropped her level really. She didn’t drop a single set didn’t even get taken to a TB.

Her court coverage was excellent, her second serve was on fire (seriously it was an incredible shot), BHDTL never missed it seemed, and she had so much confidence and poise the entire time. I think because she didn’t face much adversity she just grew and grew in belief.

That said the main reason she won? Her draw was an absolute cakewalk. Super easy. Sakkari self destructed in embarrassing fashion and Bencic was running on fumes post Olympics, and everyone else was outside the top 30

 

[Purestriker]

She played well, very well, she got on a heater during quallies and just never dropped her level really. She didn’t drop a single set didn’t even get taken to a TB.

Her court coverage was excellent, her second serve was on fire (seriously it was an incredible shot), BHDTL never missed it seemed, and she had so much confidence and poise the entire time. I think because she didn’t face much adversity she just grew and grew in belief.

That said the main reason she won? Her draw was an absolute cakewalk. Super easy.

Same for the final.

 

[TheSlicer]

And Leyla got to the final, lol, definetly some strange forces were operating at that tournament, It was nice to see tough

 

[Kralingen]

Same for the final.

It was one of the most fortunate runs to a Slam ever. First of all got lucky Brady (who was the seed she was due to face) pulled out so she got a Lucky Loser first round. Then got lucky Shelby Rogers beat Barty the round before she was supposed to play her. Then got mental collapse Sakkari who played one of the worst sets of tennis ever seen in a Slam SF. Seriously go watch the SF over again Sakkari is utterly hopeless and quite literally can’t keep a ball in play.

Meanwhile Fernandez had a murderer’s row… Kanepi (tough out), then defending champ Osaka THEN 3 Slam winner Kerber THEN Top 5 Svitolina THEN Sabalenka. Like holy **** Fernandez’s 4th best opponent is tougher than Raducanu’s best opponent. What a run.

There have been easier paths to get to a Final than Emma’s of course (Gauff RG 22, Djokovic USO 16, Medvedev USO 21 was easier even) but to get a novice like Fernandez coming off of those grueling 3 setters vs top 5 players in the Final? Fortunate doesn’t even begin to describe it.

 

[coolcamden]

She played well, very well, she got on a heater during quallies and just never dropped her level really. She didn’t drop a single set didn’t even get taken to a TB.

Her court coverage was excellent, her second serve was on fire (seriously it was an incredible shot), BHDTL never missed it seemed, and she had so much confidence and poise the entire time. I think because she didn’t face much adversity she just grew and grew in belief.

That said the main reason she won? Her draw was an absolute cakewalk. Super easy. Sakkari self destructed in embarrassing fashion and Bencic was running on fumes post Olympics, and everyone else was outside the top 30

Krakie with the on fire summary .

 

[Enceladus]

Her victory speaks volumes about the poor quality of top WTA tennis players, letting an inexperienced qualifier win a Grand Slam tournament is a shame for the entire field.

 

[EdMcMush]

Her victory speaks volumes about the poor quality of top WTA tennis players, letting an inexperienced qualifier win a Grand Slam tournament is a shame for the entire field.

but ESPN keeps telling me its cause there is so much depth and talent in the lower rankings !

 

[toby55555]

And still never beaten a top 10 player.

 

[theSHAMOO]

@peoplespeace could tell you how she won.

 

[Terenigma]

Because her finalist opponent knocked out all of the big and in-form names with the one major exception of Barty who herself was knocked out the round before she was due to give her a beatdown. She was in good form in fairness to her but her draw was mostly a joke and it's the WTA so y'know, anything can happen.

And Leyla got to the final, lol, definetly some strange forces were operating at that tournament, It was nice to see tough

Look at the players she beat to get there though, she actually beat some strong opponents and should be much less ridiculed but the fact both just came out of seemingly nowhere to contend the final WAS pretty crazy.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

Our Emma had to play qualifiers. Absolutely nobody saw it coming.
It was the greatest Cinderella story in the history of tennis.

1. First Qualifier to Win a Grand Slam: Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier, regardless of gender, to clinch a Grand Slam title.
2. Youngest Grand Slam Champion: At just 18 years old, Raducanu is the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004
3. Title Without Dropping a Set: She conquered the US Open without losing a single set, a feat last achieved by Serena Williams in 2014
4. British Tennis History: Raducanu became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Wade’s Wimbledon victory in 1977

 

[InsuranceMan]

Craziest sports run I’ve ever seen, and ever will see.

 

[Bambooman]

The remarkable aspect was that the dream run to the final happened for two players.

 

[MeatTornado]

She was healthy, for one.

 

[Sudacafan]

Our Emma had to play qualifiers. Absolutely nobody saw it coming.
It was the greatest Cinderella story in the history of tennis.

1. First Qualifier to Win a Grand Slam: Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier, regardless of gender, to clinch a Grand Slam title.
2. Youngest Grand Slam Champion: At just 18 years old, Raducanu is the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004
3. Title Without Dropping a Set: She conquered the US Open without losing a single set, a feat last achieved by Serena Williams in 2014
4. British Tennis History: Raducanu became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Wade’s Wimbledon victory in 1977

Who is Raducanu in the picture, and why the other two women are there?

 

[CHillTennis]

Petchey was saying (last night?) he thinks she will still win 4-5 slams. I'm not a Emma hater at all but not sure where he's seeing that...

The guy is just paid to say that. Unfortunately, most of these commentators are little more than kool-aide drinkers.

 

[mixtape]

It was one of the most fortunate runs to a Slam ever. First of all got lucky Brady (who was the seed she was due to face) pulled out so she got a Lucky Loser first round. Then got lucky Shelby Rogers beat Barty the round before she was supposed to play her. Then got mental collapse Sakkari who played one of the worst sets of tennis ever seen in a Slam SF. Seriously go watch the SF over again Sakkari is utterly hopeless and quite literally can’t keep a ball in play.

I agree. Plus, I also felt Rogers had a better chance at stopping Raducanu's run, after beating Barty, but then later she had that very late night 3 set doubles loss only to play the next day against a more rested Raducanu. I remember watching the Rogers/Raducanu match thinking Rogers looks tired.

 

[big ted]

anything is possible in the WTA

 

[Jonesy]

Highest peak ever, man or woman.

 

[Sport]

She was healthy, for one.

Uninjured Emma is unbeatable, no?
Vamos!

 

[PMF]

It was fun to see an underdog go all-the-way. Amazing hot streak, plus a lucky draw. The players who could have beaten her were either too fatigued from previous matches or beat themselves.

 

[travlerajm]

Raducanu’s physique at age 18 was special. Ultra lean. Ultra light. Ultra agile. She will never have that physique again, due to the laws of biology.

 

[Olli Jokinen]

Serious question as I didn't follow the tournament. Apparently she played 10 matches at the USO 2021, including the qualifiers. She didn't lose a single set and never even got pushed to a Tie Breaker. Watching her right now against an out of form and out of shape Ons Jabeur and honestly...she's so bad. That USO was well over two years ago now and it looks like it might be the only tournament she will ever win, which is crazy.

Is it possible to ride on momentum for an average player through an entire major tournament and thus winning it all?

Emma's just coming back from surgery on both wrists. Maybe give her a little time.

 

[Shaolin]

She had zero expectations, came in under the radar and caught fire at the right time.

Now she has two million sponsors, contracts, obligations, pressure and everyone on tour knows her game plus are highly motivated to beat a slam champ.

 

[Baseline_Bungle]

Is it possible to ride on momentum for an average player through an entire major tournament and thus winning it all?

Apparently, it's possible in the WTA!

Ostapenko at RG 17 was a similarly shocking run, though not QUITE as outof nowhere.

In fairness, Emma had shown flashes of a very high level already at Wimbledon. She also had one of the most absurdly easy draws in grand slam history: Voegele, Shuai Zhang, Sorribes, Rogers (who had just taken out Barty for her), then perennial late-round losers Bencic (who had just taken out Swiatek) and Sakkari, before running into world number 80-something Fernandez, who was the one who actually did all the hard work (beating the likes of Osaka, Kerber, Svitolina and Sabalenka).

But Raducanu is a real talent, and had she not won that USO, I'm sure she would have had much more impressive results in the past 2 and a half years...

Still, it was a very odd run, at a very odd time in tennis (and world) history.

 

[Grafil Injection]

In addition to the lucky run that eliminated many tough opponents, Radders came into the qualis having had two solid preparation tournaments on very similar surfaces. If you followed her prior to USOpen it was clear she had top 50 talent, having gone from 350ish to 150ish in one year. There's no doubt she hits a solid ball, has very classy technique off both wings. In the GB team tournament, she handled Watson and Boulter through power hitting. Assuming her body holds together and she improves her stamina, I wouldn't be surprised to see her back in the top 20 eventually, but I do think she should drop down to 50-125k tournaments for a year or so to get back to playing for a whole week.

 

[InsuranceMan]

Raducanu’s physique at age 18 was special. Ultra lean. Ultra light. Ultra agile. She will never have that physique again, due to the laws of biology.

 

[jimmy8]

The same way Ostapenko won a slam, hit the ball as hard as you can every single time and hope it goes in a lot.

 

[Mark-Touch]

The same way Ostapenko won a slam, hit the ball as hard as you can every single time and hope it goes in a lot.

Wrong player (Radu).
That's not the way she did it.

 

[GrandSlam24]

Our Emma had to play qualifiers. Absolutely nobody saw it coming.
It was the greatest Cinderella story in the history of tennis.

1. First Qualifier to Win a Grand Slam: Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier, regardless of gender, to clinch a Grand Slam title.
2. Youngest Grand Slam Champion: At just 18 years old, Raducanu is the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004
3. Title Without Dropping a Set: She conquered the US Open without losing a single set, a feat last achieved by Serena Williams in 2014
4. British Tennis History: Raducanu became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Wade’s Wimbledon victory in 1977

Her father, Ion Răducanu is from Bucharest, Romania, and her mother, Renee Zhai (Dongmei), is from Shenyang, China

No Problem at all, but NOT BRITISH

 

[messiahrobins]

Serious question as I didn't follow the tournament. Apparently she played 10 matches at the USO 2021, including the qualifiers. She didn't lose a single set and never even got pushed to a Tie Breaker. Watching her right now against an out of form and out of shape Ons Jabeur and honestly...she's so bad. That USO was well over two years ago now and it looks like it might be the only tournament she will ever win, which is crazy.

Is it possible to ride on momentum for an average player through an entire major tournament and thus winning it all?

At that time she was focussed on tennis. Was a good player. Then sadly met kate middleton which for a young girl Emmas age is the wrong path to go down in terms of the circles to mix in.

 

[sportsfan1]

Rafucanu beat up a cakewalk/fatigued draw to the final. Then it was super disappointing to see the actual deserving winner leylah fernandez lose in the final. It was a combination of leylah tightening up and as we have seen since, leylah can be overpowered by stronger hitting opponent.

 

[jimmy8]

Wrong player (Radu).
That's not the way she did it.

Read more carefully. And re-watch it. It's available on YouTube.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

Her father, Ion Răducanu is from Bucharest, Romania, and her mother, Renee Zhai (Dongmei), is from Shenyang, China

No Problem at all, but NOT BRITISH

Emma was raised in London from the age of 2. England is all she knows. The Royals consider her English.
Please. Let's not split hairs!

 

[jimmy8]

People here are funny. If I lived in your area and I beat one of the top players in the area, I won because that other player was fatigued from something or they gifted the match somehow or some other made up reason from your mind.

If you beat that same top player, you deserve glory because that top player was well rested and was playing at their peak.

Same thing with a pro player you dislike vs a player you like.

 

[Terenigma]

People here are funny. If I lived in your area and I beat one of the top players in the area, I won because that other player was fatigued from something or they gifted the match somehow or some other made up reason from your mind.

If you beat that same top player, you deserve glory because that top player was well rested and was playing at their peak.

Same thing with a pro player you dislike vs a player you like.

Don't make it personal. People who come here do still actively watch tennis and follow it more so than your casual commentator on twitter/reddit so we can form opinions and dislike her based on her performance at tennis. Fact is she has done nothing since her slam win, nothing. She has early losses at basically every event she has competed at since and it rightly begs the question on if her slam was a fluke based on beneficial draw where she avoided all the major players and got lucky with an above average performance at ONE tournament.

My view? She did.

 

[Dominic & Andrey]

I still assess her best level/her potential to be high enough for her to reach the top 20 again, more than that is unlikely. She didn't play that badly against Jabeur, but Ons just happened to play her best match in a few months.

 

[InsuranceMan]

@Aussie Darcy you know the WTA well, thoughts on the thread?

 

[jimmy8]

Don't make it personal. People who come here do still actively watch tennis and follow it more so than your casual commentator on twitter/reddit so we can form opinions and dislike her based on her performance at tennis. Fact is she has done nothing since her slam win, nothing. She has early losses at basically every event she has competed at since and it rightly begs the question on if her slam was a fluke based on beneficial draw where she avoided all the major players and got lucky with an above average performance at ONE tournament.

My view? She did.

You think it's luck to win 9 matches in a row at the pro level with the intensity of being at a major? Your view is skewed. You don't know how much training she went through to get to that level. You also don't know what kind of injuries she's had since. You also don't know what kind of psychological troubles she has had due to fame and injuries and coaching changes and who knows what else. You think you know everything when you don't.

She's 21 years old. Why dont you hold your horses on judging her and see what she does in the future. Your statements might turn out to be foolish if she goes on to win a lot and does it in impressive fashion. Can you tell me that she will not do that with 100% certainty? If yes, can you also tell me what the winning numbers are to the next $2 billion Mega Million ticket.

 

[Subway Tennis]

Raducanu deserves credit for her incredible poise in the title match, and also maintaining her fitness and energy levels surviving the brutality of the quailes and main draw, but there were definitely some external circumstances that helped her cause and somewhat explain such an extraordinary achievement.

- Fernandez cleared the draw for her, but wasn’t at her best for the final.

- En route to the final, Fernandez beat Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka, Angie Kerber, Elina Svitolina.

- Raducanu was probably fortunate that her opponent Fernandez was similarly inexperienced and herself was also in new territory as a young first time major finalist.

 

[Kralingen]

Raducanu’s run (and to a lesser extent, runs like Vondrousova to Wimbledon, Karatsev to AO 21 SF, etc) shows how thin margins are in tennis though. It’s a game where winning 52-53% of points makes you a big winner and winning 49% of points makes you a mug. It’s very inspiring to see that on any given day a top 100 player can beat anyone.

 

[Terenigma]

You think it's luck to win 9 matches in a row at the pro level with the intensity of being at a major? Your view is skewed. You don't know how much training she went through to get to that level. You also don't know what kind of injuries she's had since. You also don't know what kind of psychological troubles she has had due to fame and injuries and coaching changes and who knows what else. You think you know everything when you don't.

She's 21 years old. Why dont you hold your horses on judging her and see what she does in the future. Your statements might turn out to be foolish if she goes on to win a lot and does it in impressive fashion. Can you tell me that she will not do that with 100% certainty? If yes, can you also tell me what the winning numbers are to the next $2 billion Mega Million ticket.

I'm very matter of fact. I live in England and her ridiculous fame post-slam win got old REALLY fast so it kind of turned me against her, especially when she couldn't deliver on the hype. You're right though, she's still young she might make something of herself and if she does, I will gladly change my tune but to me she's like the female Kyrgios. Talked about FAR too much vs actual career success.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

@Aussie Darcy you know the WTA well, thoughts on the thread?

@Kralingen has summed up my thoughts on this perfectly.

I've said before many times, it's one of the weakest slam runs we've seen at least this century. Emma couldn't have had a better run if she tried while her finalist opponent Leylah had an utterly insane run to the final. See my post below with the rankings.

Still not a single top 10 win in her career. As great as that US Open title was and as harsh as the word fluke is...... her draw was so dirt easy compared to her opponent Leylah Fernandez.

2021 USO run for Raducanu:
3R: #41 Sorribes Tormo
4R: #43 Rogers
QF: #12 Bencic
SF: #17 Sakkari

2021 USO run for Fernandez:
3R: #3 Osaka (defending champ)
4R: #17 Kerber (2016 champion)
QF: #5 Svitolina
SF: #2 Sabalenka

It's laughable the difference in players faced. No shame to Emma, you can only face whoever is on the other side but again, that word fluke comes in for the draw..

 

[Aussie Darcy]

It was one of the most fortunate runs to a Slam ever. First of all got lucky Brady (who was the seed she was due to face) pulled out so she got a Lucky Loser first round. Then got lucky Shelby Rogers beat Barty the round before she was supposed to play her. Then got mental collapse Sakkari who played one of the worst sets of tennis ever seen in a Slam SF. Seriously go watch the SF over again Sakkari is utterly hopeless and quite literally can’t keep a ball in play.

Meanwhile Fernandez had a murderer’s row… Kanepi (tough out), then defending champ Osaka THEN 3 Slam winner Kerber THEN Top 5 Svitolina THEN Sabalenka. Like holy **** Fernandez’s 4th best opponent is tougher than Raducanu’s best opponent. What a run.

There have been easier paths to get to a Final than Emma’s of course (Gauff RG 22, Djokovic USO 16, Medvedev USO 21 was easier even) but to get a novice like Fernandez coming off of those grueling 3 setters vs top 5 players in the Final? Fortunate doesn’t even begin to describe it.

I'm forever angry at the tennis gods for Jen Brady getting injured, she would have thumped Raducanu 3 and 2 in the 1R and none of this would have happened.

 

[GravitysElbow]

Serious question as I didn't follow the tournament. Apparently she played 10 matches at the USO 2021, including the qualifiers. She didn't lose a single set and never even got pushed to a Tie Breaker. Watching her right now against an out of form and out of shape Ons Jabeur and honestly...she's so bad. That USO was well over two years ago now and it looks like it might be the only tournament she will ever win, which is crazy.

Is it possible to ride on momentum for an average player through an entire major tournament and thus winning it all?

She won by winning every match against every other player on the way.

Tournaments reward form. She was on form that week.

As others have noted here, the talent difference between players at the top is small, so yes, basically, anyone on form in the top 20-30 can potentially win a tournament. Personally, I like the competitiveness and unpredictability that brings.

Edited to remove unnecessary snarkiness

 

[GrandSlam24]

Emma was raised in London from the age of 2. England is all she knows. The Royals consider her English.
Please. Let's not split hairs!

Katie Boulter is british

 

[Nate7-5]

Craziest sports run I’ve ever seen, and ever will see.

Seen Leicester City?