WWouldn’t the world be poorer without the islanders’ humor? Mark Steel is an English comedian, columnist, and writer, also known as a stand-up comedian. And he is probably one of millions of compatriots who are turning in circles with enthusiasm because 18-year-old Emma Raducanu from south London has turned the world of tennis upside down.
Mister Steel just seems to be in a different mood, as one of his tweets on Twitter shows. “Murray got it right,” he wrote, “he put us in agony for four years before he finally won something. None of the nonsense of being champion all at once six months after graduating from Bromley. ”Wonderful. This is how you can see things when there is otherwise the danger of writing down all the words that somehow have to do with euphoria.
To the summit in 17 days
But on the other hand, it is not without euphoria after this phenomenal run, which brought Emma Raducanu from the first qualifying game on August 25 at noon on Court 11 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to the game for the title 17 days later. And the title, won in two sovereign sets (6: 4, 6: 3) against the just two months older, no less great Leylah Annie Fernandez from Canada.
Before the first rally on Court 11, everything looked like the possible Grand Slam by Novak Djokovic would be the big topic of the US Open in its historical significance. Even in the craziest of dreams, no one could have imagined that two teenagers’ game could attract as much attention; but it was like that.
Emma Raducanu’s swing and youthful freshness combined with uncompromising, fearless play are reminiscent of the first appearance of the then 15-year-old Monica Seles at a grand slam tournament in Paris in 1989. Seles lost to Steffi Graf in the semifinals, but would have won more than nine Grand Slam titles if she hadn’t been rammed by a maniac four years later in Hamburg.
What can become of Emma Raducanu after the events of 2021? After a summer with a few weeks of training because of her high school diploma, with the appearance at Wimbledon, where she made it to the round of 16 with a wildcard, and now, two months later, with the barely tangible flight from qualifying for the title. There has never been anything like it, neither in women nor in men, and it has a lot to do with an ability that is not given to everyone. To concentrate only on the next steps, not noticing anything that is happening around you, but still allowing positive vibrations that carry and strengthen the good feeling.
Big loser: Canadian Leylah Fernandez (r.)
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Image: dpa
After Wimbledon and the task with breathing problems in round four, she had to hear that she was obviously not up to the whole story. Nonsense. She herself admitted that the surprising success was not so easy to cope with. And just a few weeks after this experience, she wins one round after the other in New York, does not hesitate and does not hesitate and appears in the finals, just like Leylah Fernandez, in front of more than 20,000 spectators, as if she was born for such moments .
And it says so much about how she finished the game for the title. She had given two match points a few minutes earlier, and in between she had scratched her knee on the rough ground when she hit the ball again and thought at the next match point: I didn’t hit extreme right out for the whole game if I was still doing it want, now is the time. Thought, done, won. Terrific.
No sooner said than done, won: Britain’s Emma Raducanu wins the US Open.
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Image: dpa
In a strapless little black dress and white sneakers, she later posed with the trophy by the fountain in front of the stadium, and in these photos, as in so many others, you can see an enchanting, beautiful smile. That it looks the way it looks will surely be good for a lot of advertising deals, but it won’t make things any easier given the attentiveness that comes with it. Coping with fame is no small matter, especially when the whole nation pounces on you and the Queen sends you congratulations in a personal letter.
When Elizabeth II personally presented the trophy to another British woman 44 years ago after her victory at Wimbledon, the monarch celebrated her silver jubilee; so that was a while ago. Virginia Wade was sitting in the stands in New York and was delighted with youthful vigor about Emma Raducanu’s victory, and she too gave the impression that Easter, Christmas and all the holidays fell on a late summer’s day in New York.
But this story wouldn’t be complete without Leylah Fernandez. Who played great again, but made a few mistakes too many and in the end had tears in her eyes in her disappointment. Perhaps, apart from the quality of the game for the title and the sheer joy of playing on both sides, it was the most impressive moment of the evening when she had the microphone again at the ceremony and thanked the audience on this special day, 9 / 11. “I hope,” she said, trying to smile, “that I can be as strong and resilient as New York has been in the past 20 years.”
One of the more than 20,000 spectators, a certain Andy Roddick, was absolutely right when he said afterwards that these young women were a gift, an absolute gift. The world of tennis is definitely more colorful, livelier, and richer with the two of them.
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