Emma Raducanu vs Maria Sakkari: the night she made history
A look back at Raducanu's US Open semi-final and the historic achievement it was
Arthur Ashe Stadium is going wild. Enthralled in the chaos and fight between two gladiators that has just unfolded before them, they cheer wildly. Who for? Why, Leylah Fernandez of course! The Canadian teenager who has lit up this court on so many nights of this 2021 US Open. A player who has scrapped and fought for every point she has won, enrapturing the fans by throwing her arms up to get them to cheer her on with brilliant charisma. It felt like David against Goliath for her to beat world no.2 Aryna Sabalenka 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. A small girl and her grit against one of the best in the world smashing the ball at her and overwhelming her. But she won. She is a US Open finalist. The night session crowd are delighted this evening.
But it might just get even better. For another teenager is up next in the semi-final and her run is even more miraculous. British qualifier Emma Raducanu walks out on court to face Greek Maria Sakkari. She has the chance to become the first qualifier to ever reach a grand slam final. It’s not possible. It won’t happen, it can’t happen…can it?
As the incredible run of Raducanu went on over those two weeks, I let myself imagine that possibility. Not much, mind. After her quarter-final, I let my mind drift to it. For half a second, I imagined her winning the US Open against Leylah Fernandez, because that was really what everyone was hoping would happen; an all teenage final. I stopped myself from dreaming any further though. There was every chance both players lost those semi-finals to their better, more experienced counterparts who had both played grand slam semi-finals earlier in the year themselves. No need to get my hopes up, right?
But on the day of the semi-finals, as I geared up to stay up rather far past my bedtime, I thought about it more. As it dawned on me what I was about to witness- Raducanu in a slam semi-final under the lights…She couldn’t do it, could she?
The crowd felt subdued for the second semi-final. Fernandez had got them roaring, engaging with them in a way only she really can. After a few hours of the chaos and entertainment of Fernandez and Sabalenka, a come down was inevitable. Raducanu against Sakkari was not a gladiatorial epic that you remembered for the incredible fight or performance from the two of them. Rather, you remembered this for the moment it created, for the history. It is a night that will be remembered for what Raducanu achieved, but also the manner in which she did it. It was, I would argue, her best performance of the fortnight. On the biggest night of her life, Emma Raducanu demolished a player far more experienced than her. And I got to watch it, sat on my sofa at 3.30am and drinking it all in.
While the performance became dominant, Raducanu started nervous and Sakkari strong. I wasn’t totally shocked by that. Raducanu was broken in her first game against Rogers in round 4 and against Bencic in the quarter-final. She started those matches nervous, clearly feeling some of the pressure and taking time to adjust to the new big stage. It took her a couple of games to settle against these better opponents on Arthur Ashe before she started to dominate. Not quite so against Sakkari however.
Raducanu hit errors in those early games giving her Greek opponent plenty of break point opportunities, but she got herself out of trouble with brilliant serving. Raducanu hit her spots with the serve extremely well, going down the middle on the ad court to great effect. The best serve she hit though was her wide serve on the deuce court; it consistently got Sakkari on the run leaving her unable to return or giving Raducanu advantage in the rally. That serving surprised me in this match. The Raducanu serve had always been consistent, but I had never seen it as a huge weapon, certainly not one getting her out of trouble like this. From 15-40 down, Raducanu held the first game. I jokingly thought that an opening hold would mean that she would end up breaking Sakkari faster and give her even fewer games. My joke became reality.
Raducanu broke Sakkari immediately in that second game. She only held once, serving to stay in the first set 5-0 down. Even with the early advantage though, Raducanu was certainly being troubled. Sakkari created her chances- she had 0-40 to get back on serve in the third game. Raducanu was consistently clutch and played those big points well. Sakkari consistently failed to take her opportunities.
That is often the story of Maria Sakkari. She is obviously a brilliant player; that was her second slam semi-final of the year and she entered the top 10 after the US Open. She has great power and was clearly getting the better of Raducanu in those early stages. But this is Maria Sakkari- she is famous for coming incredibly close but never able to see it out. She doesn’t play her best tennis in the latter stages of tournaments. In a way, you could dismiss this semi-final as just any other Sakkari match; a great player but never taking her chances, always tight in the biggest moments, it certainly fit that narrative in both sets.
But to say that would be to disrespect the incredible performance of Emma Raducanu. Sakkari may have faltered, yes, but Raducanu still needed to take the opportunities presented to her and deny Sakkari a chance back into the match. She was 18. She was a qualifier. She had never played in the night session before. She was against an opponent who you would think could easily out hit and overwhelm her. Yet Raducanu stayed with her the whole time and denied her anything. It should not have been possible for Raducanu to win it, really. And while her opponent made life easier, she still had to rise to the occasion and put in the performance deserving of a place in a grand slam final. At 18 and as a qualifier, she played the match of her life in a slam semi-final. That alone is outrageous.
She was error-prone in those opening games and answered the questions Sakkari asked of her. After she held to a 3-0 lead, she was more settled. Now, the demolition really began. It was the growing power of the backhand that caught me most. The Raducanu backhand had always been relatively consistent, but I had never seen it as a weapon until that semi-final. She found a way to add an injection of pace to the backhand whether going crosscourt or down the line that consistently caught Sakkari out and had her on the backfoot. It felt like a sign of her growing confidence in the match, trusting that backhand and using it as a weapon more and more. Raducanu displayed an ability to turn defence into attack that we hadn’t quite seen from until this point. No one had pushed her like this.
That was what was so amazing about following each of her matches on that US Open run. Every time she stepped on court, you were learning something new about her. Both fan and player were developing and learning over that fortnight; Raducanu was seeing what she could do and refining her game in real time. In the semi-final, it was the serve and the backhand that came alive. Really, they had to. This was the first time she was substantially pushed when serving and came up against such a powerful opponent who could challenge her in rallies. We watched an 18 year old come of age in front of our eyes and it was magical.
Sakkari was much improved in the second set. It felt like everything had fallen apart a bit in the first set; after she failed to convert her early changes, she let Raducanu walk over her. It was a far closer and more competitive second set with both players showing what they can do. Even still, Raducanu probably could have won it more comfortably. She ended up winning 6-4, but she had multiple opportunities for the second break that Sakkari fended off. Sakkari showed something far closer to her true level of tennis to stop the Raducanu machine efficiently pull her apart.
She was able to challenge and push Raducanu far more in rallies, but she wasn’t able to win those. That is in part thanks to the great Raducanu backhand, but any longer rally often ended with a Sakkari error. Raducanu hit 15 unforced errors all match, Sakkari nearly double that with 29. Once again, there are two sides to every story; while Raducanu was brilliant, the errors coming off the Sakkari racket cannot be ignored.
However, I do still Raducanu had a big part to play in still even if her opponent was hitting errors. Her rally tolerance was brilliant in this second set; any time the rallies got longer, she was often the one coming out on top. She had remarkable consistency and barely put a foot wrong in these situations. I don’t think there is any particularly sexy or complex way to put it: Raducanu just did not miss. The Sakkari forehand was breaking down, but I do not think there was much more she could do with the level of consistency that her British opponent was able to produce.
That was what amazed me most sat watching it live. Her performance was so complete on the biggest stage where the improbability of that run came to a crescendo. At times in that US Open run, she looked like an 18 year old and a qualifier. She played great tennis, but it always felt like I was watching a young player on the rise. There were rough edges to be smoothed out. That night on Ashe, dispatching Sakkari in under an hour and a half, she did not look like an 18 year old. Emma Raducanu looked like a champion. Unphased by the occasion, dialled in the entire time and going about things with a minimum of fuss. She looked completely at ease with it all, as if she had been doing it all before and this wasn’t a big deal.
The beauty of being young was what many former players were reminiscing about. The lack of pressure or nerves getting on you, no mental scars rearing their heads in the toughest moments. Compare that to Maria Sakkari and the mental blocks she has developed at the latter stages of tournaments. Raducanu and Fernandez both played that US Open with freedom knowing anything was success for them. They both knew the stakes, what they could end up accomplishing, but dealt with the momentous occasion brilliantly.
I will remember match point most I think. The way Raducanu took to the net to kill the point off- she did very well all night, too. Once the point was won and the match was over, she dropped her racket and put her hands on her head. In that moment, Emma Raducanu the tennis player stopped and Emma Raducanu the 18 year old began. Her complete focus and control was lifted, she could now begin to process what had just happened. The realisation hit her then: she was in a grand slam final. She was the first qualifier to ever reach a grand slam final.
It is an incredible testament to the ability of the elite in sport to hide their emotions and keep their cool. So much is bubbling under the surface, and yet they manage to compose themselves to get the job done. Raducanu had the mental composure of a player ready to win a grand slam and then allowed herself to become an 18 year old again, soaking up the moment. It was like that all tournament. A focused tennis player before she let herself smile, laugh and just enjoy being out there.
She could not help but grin in her on-court interview when it’s put to her that she is the first qualifier to reach a slam final. Her interview is given with the maturity and thought she always done. She speaks of Tim Henman and the advice he gave to her. The camera cuts to him, ready to report for Amazon Prime Video in the UK. I can only wonder what how he felt seeing Raducanu that night and the kind words she said of him.
And so Raducanu leaves the court- the night is over. It is gone 5am on Friday morning for me in the UK. I had only intended to stay up for the Fernandez match initially, but I couldn’t help but stay up longer to watch Raducanu. I’m glad I did. In less than 48 hours time, she will serve an ace out wide on championship point against Leylah Fernandez and become the US Open champion. None of us could have said for sure whether she would win that final before it happened, but after seeing that performance against Sakkari, it now felt like a genuine possibility.
Raducanu has struggled since New York. A combination of fitness issues and difficulty to recreate the magic that was that fortnight. I think we can forgive her for that; she is just a 19 year old in her first year on tour, after all. Raducanu might never quite produced the tennis that won her the US Open again. She might go on to have a decent but uninspiring career, she might win more slams yet. We don’t know what will happen, but any outcome is ok. Emma Raducanu gave us the run of a lifetime and a piece of tennis history that I do not think will ever be repeated in the same way again. That is enough for me. We have that night in New York, beating Maria Sakkari on Arthur Ashe Stadium under the lights, and I will never forget it.