"It came with a lot of challenges but what it gave me outweighs everything else" - Emma Raducanu on her US Open success at 18
Emma Raducanu famously triumphed at the 2021 US Open at the age of 18. The Brit recently called it the highlight of her career and revealed that the Grand Slam title came with a lot of challenges.
Before playing at the US Open, Raducanu finished a runner-up in the Challenger event in Chicago which helped her lay a foundation for the Grand Slam. She was seeded 31st in the qualifiers and impressed her way into the main draw with three straight-sets wins.
The teenager continued her form into her first-ever US Open main draw and kept defeating opponents in straight sets. She defeated 11th seed Belinda Bencic and 17th seed Maria Sakkari before taking on Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez in the final.
Raducanu's 6-4, 6-3 win over Fernandez helped her register multiple records. However, the triumph did not come without its challenges. In an interview with Marie Claire UK, Raducanu said:
“Winning the US Open was my career highlight... It came with a lot of challenges but I think that what it gave me outweighs everything else.”
Raducanu won the title at Flushing Meadows without dropping a set, the first woman to do so since Serena Williams in 2014. The Brit was also the first qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. She was ranked 150th when she entered the tournament and at the end of it, she ranked 23rd.
However, Raducanu has since faced troubles with injuries that saw her drop out of the Top 250. She went through multiple surgeries including on both wrists and an ankle before making her comeback on the Tour in 2024.
Emma Raducanu lays out her goals in the short and long terms
Since her US Open triumph, Emma Raducanu reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The Brit looked in fine form but her run was halted by New Zealand-born Lulu Sun in the fourth round.
In her interview with Marie Claire UK, Raducanu revealed that her most important long-term goal is winning the Grasscourt Slam.
“Long term, I want to win Wimbledon. That’s my number one goal... But in the short term, I just want to keep staying healthy and improving my skills. Working on the actual development of them rather than any immediate results - that’s my priority right now,” Emma Raducanu said.
The 21-year-old Brit did not participate in the Paris Olympics and began her hard-court swing recently with the Citi Open in Washington D.C. where she lost in the quarterfinals to sixth seed Daria Kasatkina.