At the US Open, two teenagers are sensationally in the tennis final for the last Grand Slam title of the year.
After 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 18-year-old British Emma Raducanu also won her semi-finals on Thursday evening.
Raducanu is the first female qualifier in US Open history to make it into the final of the hard court classic.
There were two teenagers in the final seven times before, most recently in 1999 in the duel between Serena Williams and Martina Hingis.
Fernandez, who had prevailed against Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka in the previous rounds, defeated Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus 7: 6 (7: 3), 4: 6, 6: 4 in the semifinals. Raducanu then won her duel with number 17 seeded Greek Maria Sakkari 6: 1, 6: 4. The final is on Saturday (10:00 p.m. CEST).
“It's years, years, years of hard work and tears and blood and everything. I really wanted to get into the final, ”said Fernandez. “I'm glad I'm in the final.” She came under pressure early on in the entertaining encounter in New York, lost 12 of the first 14 points and was already 3-0 down after eight minutes. But after this nervous beginning, she improved and won the first set in the tiebreaker. Sabalenka got the break to 5: 4 in the second set and forced the decisive third set. Fernandez was not unsettled by this and later used the first match ball to move into the final.