How did the elite of women’s tennis allow this to happen?
Two relatively unknown teen-agers, both 18 years old when this U.S. Open started, advancing to the women’s final of the year’s last Grand Slam tournament?
Impossible!
One even advancing all the way from qualifying?
It took a ton of former Grand Slam champions and top-tier players to lose to set up this Saturday afternoon pairing between Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu. But it happened.
MONEY SHOULDN’T BE A PROBLEM FOR TEEN-AGERS
It’s late summer in a Covid-19 pandemic year. So, it appears everyone else is worn out.
The stars apparently simply couldn’t handle the pressure and fear of losing to a teenager. The veterans often played like rookies.
But Fernandez and Raducanu are for real. Both are great players with what look like great futures. They won’t have to worry about money any time soon since they will walk off with a total of $2.7 million between them.
I hope they are still the same fighters after picking up their big paychecks. Four of the last seven women’s Grand Slam singles winners were first-time major singles champions. That seems to be the current trend on the WTA Tour.
Bianca Andreescu, Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova were about as unknown when they won their Grand Slam titles as Fernandez and Raducanu were a few days ago.
Fernandez and Raducanu made highly regarded players look rather average in their marches to the title matchup.
RADUCANU HAS THE MORE COMPLETE GAME
Raducanu looks like the better of the two players with a complete game, power from the service line, power off the ground, consistency and brilliant court coverage. She looks tall at 5-9, with powerful legs.
A tremendous athlete, who should be around for a long time challenging for the top spots in the women’s game, Raducanu is the first men’s or women’s qualifier in the Open Era to advance all the way to a Grand Slam final.
Fernandez is a little different with her left-handed game that spelled nothing but trouble for three top five players (No. 3 Naomi Osaka, No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka) along with three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber.
WHAT MAKES FERNANDEZ SO SUCCESSFUL?
What makes it so difficult for a first-time opponent to handle what looks like a light-hitting ground-stroke game from the slender 5-6 Fernandez? Her secret weapon is perfection in the execution of her game, yielding few mistakes.
And it helps to be left-handed.
I remember watching online as Fernandez defeated Charleston’s Emma Navarro in straight sets in the singles final of the 2019 Junior French Open. I couldn’t understand at the time how Fernandez was able to defeat Navarro so easily. Fernandez seemed to be hitting to an open court all match.
FERNANDEZ SHOTS HUG THE COURT AND NET
After watching Fernandez all week on ESPN, I think I’ve figured out how she gave all of those great players so much trouble.
Navarro, by the way, is the current NCAA women’s national singles champion who was awarded a wild card into the U.S. Open but lost in the first round.
Fernandez delivers left-handed groundstrokes that are difficult to follow due to their low trajectory. They seem to hug the court, but some way make their way over the net. Since they are so low, it appears to be difficult for her opponents to track the shots. The shots spin into a right-handed opponent’s forehand while spinning almost sideways. That causes her opponents’ returns to go everywhere but across the net.
FUTURE OPPONENTS MAY SOLVE LEFTY’S GAME
It’s uncanny how Fernandez can practically push serves and ground strokes over the net and down the lines or serves seeming to always hit the center line.
Of course, that style of play may not always reap good results in doubles because of the player at the net. Charleston’s Navarro and partner Chloe Beck won the 2019 Junior French doubles title by limiting Fernandez and her partner to just three games in the final.
Fernandez also suffered a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Raducanu in the second round of the 2018 Junior Championships at Wimbledon. Because of that experience, Raducanu may be able to overcome Fernandez and her left-handed strategy.
Such experience by future opponents may also limit the success of Fernandez. But Saturday’s payoff looks great, win or lose.
James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award as the tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspapers. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com
