Two teenagers will battle for the women’s singles title.
Two teenagers will battle for the women’s singles title. By Ben Rothenberg Before Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez became breakout stars and the new faces of the U.S. Open, the story of the tournament focused on who wasn’t playing. The U.S. Open aced the slogan for its marketing campaign for this year’s tournament, a return to normalcy: “The Greatest Return.” But for the accompanying pictures — featuring many of the Open’s recent champions — a “let” needed to be called. First, Roger Federer shut down his season on Aug.15. Rafael Nadal dropped out of the Open five days later. Venus and Serena Williams both pulled out another five days after that. The reigning men’s champion, Dominic Thiem, and the fifth-ranked Sofia Kenin, who is the highest-ranked American, also withdrew shortly before the tournament. It is the first U.S. Open since 1996 not to include Federer, Nadal or a Williams sister. But with space opening up for new stars, whoever wins the title on Saturday can expect to see images of herself all over the city next year, posing with the trophy. By Ben Rothenberg Ranked 150th in the world, Emma Raducanu had to play in the qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open a week before the main-draw tournament, in order to secure her spot. Raducanu won three matches to reach the main draw, and then six more to advance to the final, becoming the first player in history to reach a major final as a qualifier.
