(by Madan Mohan)
Emma Raducanu made history at the US Open on Saturday as the first ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam title. The US Open was also the second Grand Slam she had ever entered, beating Monica Seles’ record (on the women’s side) of winning a slam title in the fourth one that she entered (French Open 1990). And while the Brit is not the lowest ranked player ever (she was ranked 150th) to win a slam title (that would be Mark Edmondson unless you count once high ranked players returning from slumps like Sloane Stephens), she would be ‘high’ up in the list and certainly the youngest
In fact, Raducanu’s story is unusual in so many ways that it lives up to Cinderella fairytale tropes well beyond the cliched use of the phrase. She was only just getting seriously started with a pro tennis career as of the time of playing Wimbledon earlier this year. She had made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon Juniors in 2018 – a good result but by no means spectacular. She had won an ITF Juniors tournament in 2018 – in Chandigarh. And, hear this, she also won a $25000 ITF pro event in Pune in 2019.
But that was it. When the pandemic struck, her attention returned to studies and she gave her A Level exams from a Grammar School in Bromley earlier this year. It was not long before Wimbledon that she really began to play tennis on a regular basis again.
But we are just getting started. Wimbledon almost didn’t give her the wild card that let her participate in the tournament (she was ranked 336 at that point) but did so after she beat Timea Babos at Glasgow. Apparently, even Tim Henman, a Wimbledon semifinalist attaining a ranking of no.4 in his playing days, wasn’t super chuffed about Raducanu’s wild card. Henman, of course, would go on to mentor her and could be seen courtside at her US Open matches, receiving generous acknowledgments from Raducanu after her victories.
Henman wasn’t the only one she initially failed to flatter. As such, she was regarded as a good prospect but not that special by tennis scouts. Yes, IMG & Co failed to see a grand slam winner in Raducanu. That is what makes her story particularly unusual.
Raducanu is not a product of Florida (like many pros over the years since the Bolletierri days) nor Mallorca, Spain (where Nadal runs his academy and where last year’s breakout winner Iga Swiatek received some training). She didn’t really come through the system though she did receive professional coaching (the Lawn Tennis Association supported her as part of the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme too). In fact, as of yet, even Wikipedia hasn’t gotten around to adding a ‘Coaching’ section to the article about Raducanu. It’s been too much too fast even for the Information Superhighway.
Which makes it all the more mystifying that the player tennis fans saw at the US Open was a stunningly complete, mature-beyond-her-years player. Already by last Monday (the day of the Round of 16 matches), on Talk Tennis (the Tennis Warehouse forum), a member had made a thread to discuss who of Emma Raducanu, Leylah Fernandez and Cori Gauff was the most talented. And there were other members already saying on that very day that Emma was the one. One, in particular, an obnoxious Graf fanatic, even said, “I have seen the future of tennis and it’s Emma Raducanu.” Dude is laughing all the way to the bank. Lesson learnt: Smugness may not always get its comeuppance and may even be rewarded at times by the Lord Almighty. Deal with it!
Even if some of them just took a wild swing and landed bulls eye, I too believe the tennis she produced lent itself to such prognostications (which might have otherwise been regarded as premature). When I saw her demolish no less a player than Belinda Bencic (the Tokyo Gold Medallist) in straight sets in the Quarter Final, I was a convert too.
If I may indulge in the favourite pastime of many recreational tennis players – technique analysis – I immediately spotted her fluid movement, particularly when running across to hit a down the line forehand. Raducanu doesn’t scurry with short steps, expending energy like many others on the WTA. Instead, she takes a few big steps like the best guys on the ATP, particularly, a certain Roger Federer. By doing so, she lands into the striking zone with a wide base and is well balanced as she executes the stroke. She is also able to swing from further away from the ball, thus extending the hitting arm more. This is why you saw her smack down the line forehand winners time and again in the tournament.
I didn’t count how many of those she struck. I should have. What I can tell you is she didn’t drop a set throughout the tournament (and, as a qualifier, she played 10 matches rather than the usual 7). I also saw her hit 110 mph aces down the T on big points in big matches (like quarters, semi or the final). Why, she even hit a 105 mph out wide ace on championship point. That may not be Serena Williams good, but it is really good. The sheer, almost poetic, flow of her game is breath-taking to watch and cannot fail to attract the attention of tennis fans within minutes.
So the question, again, is just how did a player who is Emma Raducanu good fly under the radar? Has the pandemic made the job of scouts that difficult? But even so, the professional punditry of tennis world wasn’t really talking about Raducanu at least until she beat Bencic. And why should I single them out to sneer at? Even after everything I saw, I was more inclined to bet on Leylah Fernandez in the final because she, after all, had beaten the heavyweights – Osaka, Svitolina and Sabalenka. I thought good things would happen to Raducanu but just not so soon.
But here’s a fun fact: The only previous meeting between Raducanu and Fernandez was at Wimbledon 2018 in the second run. And…Raducanu won…in straight sets.
Did Fernandez remember? Did she know?
It would have been tempting to end this article right there. But I must also indulge in prognostication about her future. A pertinent question has been raised about Raducanu not facing a single top 5 player en route to her title. Just how do we know how she shapes up against Ashleigh Barty or Simona Halep or, indeed, Aryna Sabalenka? We don’t. But…we may come to know pretty soon. Indian Wells comes up in October and, in normal times, boasts the toughest draw of non-slam tournaments (other than the Year Ending Championship). These are still covid times, though, and we cannot say if all the big stars will turn up for it. But if they do, Raducanu’s current ranking of 23 assures her a seed (yes, from qualifier to seed!) in the tournament. And then, we may get to know.
But until then, we can do what she has chosen to do: enjoy the moment and bask in the glory of the ultimate fairytale tennis story.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Jayram
September 14, 2021
Beautiful article, Madan.
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Anand Raghavan
September 14, 2021
fact @Madan : Agree. Emma Radacanu’s was nothing short of a fairytale. Infact US Open women final itself was one. Two teenagers, of which one qualifier playing through rounds as if nothing to lose and beating everyone on the way. Leylah Fernandaz ousted Maria Sakkari who had earlier beaten Andreescu in a marathon 3 setter that went till 2:15 am EST and Pliskova.
Emma created a ripple in Wimbledon (no surprises being a Brit) , retiring mid way in rounds.
Women’s tennis mid 70s-mid 90s (dominated by Evert, Navratilova and Graf) was more or like men’s tennis of mid 2000s till 2020 (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic). Serena was pushing herself through injuries through last 2 decades. But now there seem to be a bunch of exciting talents, giving intense contests than one sided matches.
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rmahalik
September 14, 2021
Very interesting read. Thanks Madan.
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Madan
September 14, 2021
Jayram, rmahalik: Thanks!
Anand Raghavan: Thanks. But you have slightly mixed up re Sakkari. Raducanu was the one who beat her – in the semis and again in straight sets. It’s interesting that Sakkari too did some giant killing by beating Andreescu and Pliskova but then went down in straights to Raducanu. Fernandez, of course, did major giant killing – beating Osaka, Kerber, Svitolina and Sabalenka back to back and all in 3 sets. I think fatigue was a factor to an extent on finals day (though Fernandez still dragged a straight setter into two hours) and Raducanu with fewer miles under her belt was fresher. It was a bit like Sampras running through Rafter, Agassi, Safin and then running out of steam against Hewitt in the final. That said, Raducanu has the better serve, forehand and backhand and probably also the better return. She took every second serve from inside the baseline throughout the tournament! It would be interesting to see how both match up when they are equally fresh/fatigued.
Their stories do mirror each other’s to quite a degree albeit with notable differences. Fernandez has already been making it to the slams since 2020. She played in every slam this year and the USO 2021 was in effect the 7th slam she had entered. She had at least some experience of participating in slams and when I heard she had beaten Osaka, her name still rung a bell (I did remember Raducanu from Wimbledon too but didn’t know that that had been her first slam). The similarity is Fernandez had not impressed in her previous six slam appearances, finishing no higher than 3rd round at RG 2020. So in a sense, that makes her run even more amazing. At least we were completely caught by surprise with Raducanu. But Fernandez had been playing for a while and so far not impressed to the level where she would have been expected to even make the QFs. It’s possible, in fact, that another year or two of underwhelming performances at the slams would have led her to slowly draw curtains on her tennis career and look at other options. So this tournament, while making Raducanu the bigger star for now, may have also drastically revived Fernandez’s career. There won’t be a plan B now if there ever was. She too will commit 100% to tennis.
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Yossarian
September 14, 2021
@Madan – very well written, especially the the background and early days. It’s always nice to see a player that’s not a product of the major academies with a all court game doing well (hopefully she’s able to build on her success). Her play in Wimby gave a preview of what she was capable of, but this achievement was beyond anyone’s imagination.
One thing I did want to point out that while Leylah took out more higher ranked/seeded players (Sabalenka and Kerber were great wins), Raducanu DOMINATED the in-form/momentum players – Bencic, Sakkari (and Rogers to a lesser extent). The final was a joy to watch with neither players showing any nerves, and the different styles of play I hope Leylah succeeds too, her slight build notwithstanding. The way she takes those balls on the rise and early and directs them with those crazy angles was amazing to watch. Really liked her quick thinking tactics and the way she countered the power shots against Sabalenka where she exposed her one dimensional power game
The bigger question though is can Emma or any of these younger players develop the consistency or will we continue to see a more spread out field of champions in WTA (we’ve already had Ostapenko, Andrescu, Swiatek as young winners). I don’t see anyone other than Barty or Osaka capable of dominating the slams. And more importantly, let’s hope Emma doesnt go the way of Genie Bouchard (Emma definitely has a way better game at this point) and is able to balance the hype and fame.
Here’s an interesting article (the British hype machine is already on overdose at the moment):
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/sep/12/emma-raducanu-could-become-britains-first-billion-dollar-sport-star
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Anand Raghavan
September 15, 2021
@Madan: My bad, Yes Emma eliminated Sakkari and Fernandez overcame Sabalenka.
Ash Barty, current no. 1 and very intelligent player, it would be interesting to see a match between these teenagers and her .
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Madan
September 15, 2021
Yossarian: Yes, I worry about the British media factor also. The good things is we have seen Murray carry the expectations of the entire country on his shoulders and eventually wind up with a very prestigious career, even if a far cry from that of the Big Three. So hopefully the poise and wisdom Raducanu has shown will not be wiped away by the onslaught of $.
And I agree. While Fernandez knocked out bigger fish, Raducanu destroyed everyone in her path. Including, ultimately, Fernandez. It was like Federer at Australian Open 07. She was just completely in the zone. Will be interesting to see how future matches of both pan out.
Anand: Yes. Barty will be a big test for both. Hopefully that comes about at Indian Wells in October.
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Srinivas R
September 15, 2021
I don’t follow Tennis much, but I remember Raducanu from the social media noise around her Wimbeldon exit. Piers Morgan and KP tweeted some absolute nonsense about her mental strength. It’s a very nice warm feeling as a lay audience when she won the US open. Hope she continues to do well.
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S N Dayanidhi
September 15, 2021
Wonderful writeup. Brought back memories of Boris Becker storming into Wimbledon during childhood. This has brought whiff of fresh air to Women’s game. You never know what kids can achieve these days and Emma is a hidden gem.
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Madan
September 15, 2021
Srinivas R: Yes, I remember that. Turns out it was more of a physical issue. A breathing difficulty which she warded off by working harder on her fitness.
S N Dayanidhi: Thanks! I thought of Becker too. The sheer impact is comparable. Hopefully she too will leave as big a mark on tennis as he did.
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Madan
September 19, 2021
Wrote this on my blog, seeing as the, er, ‘discourse’ has already begun about Raducanu. And as usual, fuelled by writers who don’t usually write about sport.
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An Jo
September 24, 2021
Thank you for this great piece Madan; I keep watching the highlights again and again and it just gets better every time…the ONE bloody time I missed my annual pilgrimage to Mets-Willets Point station and this happens…
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Yajiv
January 6, 2022
Piggybacking on this thread to see if anyone’s been following this Djoker-Aussie Open saga. Wild stuff.
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Madan
January 6, 2022
Yajiv : Crazy goings on. Novak had been cleared by Tennis Australia and more importantly the state of Victoria. But the moment he tweeted about his exemption, ostensibly to quell speculation about whether he is coming, Aussies were up in arms about the perceived injustice. And ScoMo (or ScuMo as his haters call him) went fishing for an opportunity to earn some brownie points. Neither Aussies nor their PM seem to care about what horrible PR they are going to get. If multiple agencies in Aus will decide whether you can get in or not, why bother? What happens if say tomorrow the Federal Govt lets you in because you are double vaccinated but Western Australia state says they don’t accept covishield? I could be completely wrong with this example but that’s how the situation looks from the outside in.
The Australian Open was the best loved slam of tennis fans and players in recent years but they have been gnawing away at this goodwill through the pandemic. And this is the last straw. Deporting the world no. 1 after he received permission from an authority purportedly competent to grant said permission – they will never recover from this. And in the meantime, the US Open has been winning plaudits for handling quarantines and stuff better than the other slams. So much then for the derision the rest of the Western world heaps on the US.
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Madan
January 6, 2022
Well, I spoke too soon. Apparently, woke-t___s are rejoicing over this. I can’t believe it but maybe that makes me naive. Look, I am myself double vaccinated and don’t agree with Novak at all. But people can’t look at everything purely through such an ideological lens. It was the Aus govt that issued him a visa. Novak couldn’t have issued himself one. They should be asking why the Aus govt screwed up so massively and instead they are gloating at his comeuppance. I mean, you couldn’t pay ME now to visit Australia until I am 100% certain they are over covid (which, by the looks of it, will take them a year longer than the rest of the world!). Who wants to pay for a long and expensive flight to the continent deep down in the Southern hemisphere if your valid visa will be shredded to pieces?
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Jai
January 7, 2022
@ Yajiv, Madan – as a fan of Novak who also feels that he’s been incredibly bone headed about vaccination, I can’t even begin to describe how shitty this entire drama has been. Yes, Novak could have- and should have- avoided this whole imbroglio by getting vaccinated months, if not a year ago. But this entire vaccine cancelation/ preparing to deport / leaking intimidatory stuff about potentially banning his entry for 3 years- Good Lord, the Australian politicians are trying their best to look and sound worse than our own, and that’s saying something.
Either they should never have had exemption from vaccination (and force players without vaccination into 2 weeks quarantine or maybe even not come at all), or else, of they set up the “medical boards” which “impartially and blindly vetted exemption applications”, well then, they need to bloody well stick to those exemptions. Retrospective amendment of exemptions and entry criteria looks terrible. And the venomous glee and schadenfreude unloaded on him is so toxic. Just reflects poorly on those gloating over a country’s messed up border control rules.
Much as I admire Novak as a tremendous competitor and gutsy, athletic player, his unscientific and kooky ideas can be very irritating. Likewise, much as Australia can claim to be a “first world”, civilised, democratic country – their politicians have not displayed much of that erudition and perspective at all of late.
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Madan
January 7, 2022
“Likewise, much as Australia can claim to be a “first world”, civilised, democratic country – their politicians have not displayed much of that erudition and perspective at all of late.” – In fairness to Australia, who in the first world has, barring a few glorious exceptions like Jacinda? Even Macron called unvaccinated Frenchmen as non citizens or something that inflammatory. Trump unleashed the invective virus, BoJo grabbed it with both hands and now it’s spreading even to less right wing corners of the Western world. I grant that Trudeau doesn’t say much either way, which is just as well because it’s rarely a good look when he does open his mouth and confirm accusations about, let’s say, his slow intellect.
From reading explainers published on Sydney Morning Herald/The Age, the exemption Novak received was granted by a committee that conducted the process blind (without being told of the identity of the players). But it was later determined that this process was inadequate for international arrivals. A determination they apparently made only when Novak announced the fact that he was arriving without being vaccinated! This is just woefully incompetent and indeed not worthy at all of a developed nation and one that is at least ostensibly a liberal democracy.
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Kannaa
January 9, 2022
Since Sep 2021, New York city has a local ordinance that requires at least one dose of vaccination for entry to indoor facilities. Kylie Irving, a star basketball player for the Nets, refused to be vaccinated (btw, he also believes the earth is flat. no, seriously!) and the team decided he wouldn’t make the roster. With the onslaught of omicron and the grounding of many players, rules have now been relaxed. Now, he is allowed to participate in “road games” outside New York city.
Maybe tongue-in-cheek (or not), this point has been raised with regards to the New York city ordinance. What happens if it rains long enough during the U.S. Open and the roofs come up? Outdoor arena becomes “indoor arena”. Assuming Novak stays unvaccinated, will he have to forfeit the game as he is escorted out ?
Tracey Holmes (ABC Radio) has an illuminating discussion on the Djokovic saga in her sports podcast “The Ticket” (includes an interview with a Iranian detainee held at the Park “hotel” now and the conditions there)
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Kannaa
January 9, 2022
BTW, his name is spelt Kyrie, not Kylie.
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Jai
January 10, 2022
There are 3 different aspects to the Novak case being heard currently.
1) from an ethical, responsible behaviour standpoint, (which is not relevant to the procedural hearing for visa cancellation appeal), Novak has not behaved with responsibility and adequate caution on the days following his PCR test, reported to be on Dec 16. That is not relevant to the appeal, but will undoubtedly further dent his image. Even as a fan, I find it a continuation of his disturbing stance regarding vaccination and covid in general. Wish he’d just got the vaccine ages go and none of this would be happening.
2) Procedurally, he does not seem to have met the Australian federal government requirements for entry. However, while it is all very well to say that it is ultimately the applicant’s responsibility to make sure he or she is fully up to speed with the requirement, the fact is that in this case he was supplied with contradictory and unclear information from the Australian authorities themselves (Victoria state, Tennis Australia). While it is all very well to now turn around and point out that the Federal Ministry of Home Affairs and ABF are the ones who determine entry, this level of horrendous mis-coordination between the various levels makes our Union –Delhi and Union–Bengal fracas seem like mild disagreements. There is also no real rational reason as to why several others were let in under same exemption, and later deported only once the Novak case hit media headlines.
3) Regardless of the strength and validity of arguments, the Australian government lawyers are playing as dirty as governments across the world are known to do, “liberal democracies” or not. Bluntly stating on a legal submission before a judge what they feel would be an inappropriate order even if the finding went against them; underlining that they could (and likely would) very well just cancel the visa again even if they lost…….does not really indicate much of a respect for the legal proceeding in itself.
In sum, this entire situation is a pathetic mess.
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Madan
January 10, 2022
Well, at least the Australian judiciary gave a better account of itself than the Feds /ABF. Novak may have lied about his test, may have been irresponsible but once a competent Aus authority upholds his documents as a basis for medical exemption, to deny it on entry is against the principles of natural justice. That such justice may be routinely denied by the ABF to other immigrants is another matter, this was Novak and they should have known better. ScoMo may still cave in to populism and cancel his visa all over again but it would now reflect poorly on the Aus govt and on the Australian Open, not Novak.
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Yajiv
January 14, 2022
Well, it looks like we’re in the endgame of this whole saga. If this 3 year ban stuff is true, Djoko might have already played his last AO (considering his age).
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Madan
January 15, 2022
Yajiv: Djoko’s lawyers have still pressed an appeal but I understand a judicial review of the Minister’s decision is much harder to win. So yes, this may be a strange end to the years of AO domination by Djokovic.
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Madan
February 2, 2022
My thoughts on or rather after the AO final.
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Madan
February 23, 2022
Well, Raducanu’s post USO travails continue as she withdrew injured against Saville (you may remember her as Gavrilova from a few years back) having squandered a chance to serve out the match.
But you can probably tell I am not bumping up the thread for THAT. It is that Zverev has been defaulted from a tournament in Mexico after what happened in his doubles match. And when you see the below clip from said match, you will immediately understand why.
The most disrespectful and dangerous behaviour exhibited by a player towards the chair umpire ever, bar none.
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Madan
March 23, 2022
Bumping this with the big news that Barty has retired. Have a lot to say about it and captured some of my thoughts here:
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Madan
July 13, 2022
Another E.R won her first slam title this year…at Wimbledon. Wrote about it here:
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Anand Raghavan
July 13, 2022
Never seen a grand slam a championship point winning moment handled so cool…that too a first time champion…Rybakyna …An ethnic Russian winning representing Khazaksthan winning Wimbledon which has banned Russian players..what an irony .!
As Madan has mentioned in his blogpost, her humility and introvert nature helped her to navigate tricky presser unscathed
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Madan
September 17, 2022
Here’s a one year update to this. And you already know it’s not good news if you’ve been following Raducanu’s career post USO:
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