Qualifier to champion: Britain’s Raducanu, 18, wins US Open

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — British teenager Emma Raducanu has beaten Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in the U.S. Open final to become the first female qualifier to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era. The 18-year-old Raducanu is ranked 150th and needed to win three matches during preliminary rounds just to get into the main draw. Saturday’s victory capped a run in which she won all 20 sets she played at Flushing Meadows. Raducanu was participating in only her second Grand Slam tournament. This was the first major final between two teens since Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis at the 1999 U.S. Open and the first between two unseeded women in the professional era.