Emma Raducanu wins US Open, becoming first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title

Emma Raducanu is your 2021 US Open women’s tennis champion. The 150th ranked and unseeded player from Great Britain defeated the 73rd ranked Canadian unseeded player Leylah Annie Fernandez in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 to claim the title.

Raducano is the third women’s player and fourth overall player to win the US Open as an unseeded player. On the women’s side, Sloane Stephens did the deed in 2017 and Kim Clijsters did it in 2009. On the men’s side, Andre Agassi did it in 1994.

Raducano came into the match as a -190 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook while Fernandez was a +155 underdog. 61 percent of handle at DK was on Raducano while 58% of total bets were on Fernandez.

This was the first time two unseeded players faced off in a major final among either women or men in the Open Era (since 1968). Raducano became the first singles qualifier to even reach a major final, with John McEnroe’s 1977 Wimbledone semifinals run the previous best for a qualifier. It’s interesting to note that even having to go through the ringer like that, Raducano only faced on seeded player in the entire tournament. She defeated No. 11 seed Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals.