Emma Raducanu and Daniil Medvedev win US Open

September 13, 2021
The GIST: Emma Raducanu (pronounced rah-doo-CON-ew) and Daniil Medvedev are your US Open champions. Alex, we’ll take “things we would have never predicted” for $800, please.
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Emma Raducanu and Daniil Medvedev win US OpenEmma Raducanu and Daniil Medvedev win US Open
Source: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Women’s final: On Saturday, in the first US Open final in the Open Era to ever feature two unseeded players, 18-year-old Brit Raducanu defeated 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez.

  • Raducanu, who entered the tournament as a qualifier, won 20 straight sets on her way to claiming her first major (of many, we’re sure).
  • And while Fernandez’s fairy-tale run didn’t end quite the way Canadians had hoped, her eloquent post-match speech — which included a tribute to New York on 9/11 — proved why she was already a winner to many.

Men’s final: On the flip side, yesterday’s men’s final featured two of the world’s best, No. 2 Medvedev and No. 1 Novak Djokovic, with Djokovic looking to complete the calendar Grand Slam after winning the year’s other three majors.

But it was Medvedev who shocked the tennis world with a quick three-set win...and the oddest on-court celebration we’ve ever seen.