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Raducanu makes history in reac...

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Raducanu makes history in reaching Women's US Open final on debut


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British teenager Emma Raducanu has become the first qualifier in the professional era of tennis to make a Grand Slam final.

The 18-year-old beat Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows and will now face another teenager, Canadian Leylah Fernandez, in Saturday's decider.

Raducanu has yet to drop a set in the entire tournament and has only conceded 27 points.

It's only her second Grand Slam appearance - she reached the last 16 of Wimbledon back in July ranked 338 in the world.

Raducanu was born in Toronto and moved to London at the age of two. Based in Kent, she only gained her A-Levels this summer.

The last British woman to claim a Grand Slam was Virginia Wade back in 1977.

World number 73 Fernandez for her part upset Aryna Sabalenka 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 and will attempt to win her first Grand Slam on Saturday.

Unseeded Fernandez, who is 19, had already claimed the scalps of Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina.

Raducanu, now ranked 150, doesn't feel there's any expectation on her shoulders going into the decider.

“Is there any expectation?” she asked the crowd.

“I’m a qualifier, so technically on paper there’s no pressure on me.”

This will be the first Grand Slam final between teenagers since Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis in the 1999 US Open final.

The professional phase of tennis began in 1968 and Raducanu has gone to a place no qualifier has before - the final.

John McEnroe reached the Wimbledon men's semi-finals as a qualifier in 1977 and would subsequently become world number one.


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