Emma Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez in the final , 6–4, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2021 US Open. It was her first major title, and she became the first qualifier to win a major. Additionally, she became the first British woman to win a singles major since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon Championships , and the second player to win the US Open on her debut after Bianca Andreescu in 2019 .[1] [2] [3] Aged 18, Raducanu became the youngest major champion since Maria Sharapova at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships and with a ranking of world No. 150, the lowest-ranked player to win a major since Kim Clijsters at the 2009 US Open , and the youngest player to win the title since Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open . She also won the title without losing a set during the tournament, including during her three qualification matches, and was not taken to a tiebreaker in any set. This was her first WTA Tour singles title, making her the fourth woman in the Open Era to win a major as her first singles title.[i]
Naomi Osaka was the defending champion,[4] but was defeated by Fernandez in the third round.
The final marked the first all-teenage major final since Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis in 1999, and the first women's singles major final in the Open Era to feature two unseeded players.[5] Raducanu and Fernandez both made their top 30 debuts following the tournament. Fernandez was the youngest player to defeat three top-five seeded players in the same major since Williams at the 1999 US Open.[6] [7]
This was the first major since the 2011 French Open and first US Open since 2003 where neither of the Williams sisters participated.[8] This event also marked the final major appearance for former world No. 6 Carla Suárez Navarro , who lost in the first round to Danielle Collins .[9]
None of the top 20 seeds lost prior to the third round, the first time this occurred since the introduction of the 32-seed format in 2001 .[10] The defeats of Karolína Plíšková and Barbora Krejčíková in the quarterfinals guaranteed two first-time major finalists; Raducanu and Fernandez emerged to become those players. This also ensured that, for the first time since 2014 , eight different players contested the four major finals in a season.
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.
Championship match statistics edit The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on WTA rankings as of August 23, 2021. Rank and points before are as of August 30, 2021.
As a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system, players are defending the greater of their points from the 2019 and 2020 tournaments.[11] In addition, points from tournaments held during the weeks of September 9, 2019 and September 7, 2020 will be dropped at the end of the tournament and replaced by the player's next best result.
Seed Rank Player Points before Points defending from 2019 or 2020 Points won Points after Status 1 1 Ashleigh Barty 10,185 240 130 10,075 Third round lost to Shelby Rogers 2 2 Aryna Sabalenka 7,010 70 780 7,720 Semifinals lost to Leylah Fernandez 3 3 Naomi Osaka 6,666 2,000 130 4,796 Third round lost to Leylah Fernandez 4 4 Karolína Plíšková 5,530 240+470 430+65 5,315 Quarterfinals lost to Maria Sakkari [17] 5 5 Elina Svitolina 5,210 780 430 4,860 Quarterfinals lost to Leylah Fernandez 6 7 Bianca Andreescu 4,537 2,000 240 2,777 Fourth round lost to Maria Sakkari [17] 7 8 Iga Świątek 4,461 130 240 4,571 Fourth round lost to Belinda Bencic [11] 8 9 Barbora Krejčíková 4,273 (35)† 430 4,668 Quarterfinals lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2] 9 10 Garbiñe Muguruza 4,210 70 240 4,380 Fourth round lost to Barbora Krejčíková [8] 10 11 Petra Kvitová 4,170 240 130 4,060 Third round lost to Maria Sakkari [17] 11 12 Belinda Bencic 4,170 780 430 3,820 Quarterfinals lost to Emma Raducanu [Q] 12 13 Simona Halep 3,881 70 240 4,051 Fourth round lost to Elina Svitolina [5] 13 14 Jennifer Brady 3,489 780+29 0+15 2,695 Withdrew due to injury 14 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3,420 70 240 3,590 Fourth round lost to Karolína Plíšková [4] 15 16 Elise Mertens 3,330 430 240 3,140 Fourth round lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2] 16 17 Angelique Kerber 3,245 240 240 3,245 Fourth round lost to Leylah Fernandez 17 18 Maria Sakkari 3,210 240 780 3,750 Semifinals lost to Emma Raducanu [Q] 18 19 Victoria Azarenka 3,160 1,300 130 1,990 Third round lost to Garbiñe Muguruza [9] 19 20 Elena Rybakina 3,083 70+180 130+105 3,068 Third round lost to Simona Halep [12] 20 21 Ons Jabeur 2,975 130 130 2,975 Third round lost to Elise Mertens [15] 21 23 Coco Gauff 2,875 130 70 2,815 Second round lost to Sloane Stephens 22 24 Karolína Muchová 2,862 240 10 2,632 First round lost to Sara Sorribes Tormo 23 25 Jessica Pegula 2,425 130 130 2,425 Third round lost to Belinda Bencic [11] 24 26 Paula Badosa 2,343 30+110 70+30 2,303 Second round lost to Varvara Gracheva 25 27 Daria Kasatkina 2,340 10 130 2,460 Third round lost to Elina Svitolina [5] 26 29 Danielle Collins 2,270 70 130 2,330 Third round lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2] 27 30 Jeļena Ostapenko 2,170 130 0 2,040 Withdrew for medical reasons 28 28 Anett Kontaveit 2,315 240 130 2,205 Third round lost to Iga Świątek [7] 29 31 Veronika Kudermetova 2,040 10+110 10+100 2,030 First round lost to Sorana Cîrstea 30 32 Petra Martić 2,005 240+305 70+55 1,585 Second round lost to Ajla Tomljanović 31 33 Yulia Putintseva 1,910 430 10 1,490 First round lost to Kaia Kanepi 32 34 Ekaterina Alexandrova 1,866 70 70 1,866 Second round lost to Kamilla Rakhimova [LL]
† The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2019 or 2020. Accordingly, points for her 16th best result are deducted instead.
The following players would have been seeded, but withdrew before the tournament began.
Rank Player Points before Points defending from 2019 or 2020 Points after Withdrawal reason 6 Sofia Kenin 5,030 240+100 4,691 Positive COVID-19 test 22 Serena Williams 2,891 1,300 1,591 Hamstring injury in right leg
Other entry information edit † – not included on entry list & – withdrew from entry list
^ Leylah Fernandez became the first player of Southeast Asian descent (Filipino descent) to reach the final. ^ Last direct acceptance ^ Kirsten Flipkens (105) had initially replaced Wang, but later withdrew due to continuous injuries.[15] Venus Williams (108) as the next player initially entered into the main draw to replace Flipkens, but she later withdrew due to recurring injury.[16] [17] ^ "Emma Raducanu marches into US Open semis with easy win over Bencic" . The Guardian . September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021 .^ "Emma Raducanu roars past Sakkari to set up US Open final against Fernandez" . The Guardian . September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021 .^ "Emma Raducanu: British 18-year-old makes tennis history with US Open final win" . The Guardian . September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021 .^ "Naomi Osaka fights back to sink Victoria Azarenka and regain US Open" . The Guardian . September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020 .^ "Raducanu makes history with win over Sakkari; sets all-teen US Open final vs. Fernandez" . wtatennis.com .^ "Fearless Fernandez battles past Sabalenka into first Grand Slam final at US Open" . wtatennis.com . Retrieved September 12, 2021 .^ "Emma Raducanu wins US Open by beating Leylah Fernandez for maiden Grand Slam" . BBC Sport. September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021 .^ "Venus Williams joins Serena in withdrawing from US Open: 'Not the best news' " . New York Post . August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021 .^ "Cancer-free Suarez Navarro preparing for final farewell tour" . wtatennis.com . Retrieved August 30, 2021 .^ "Players by Seed: Women's Seeds" . usopen.org . Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2021 .^ "WTA weighs up rankings change that could affect world number one Ash Barty" . www.abc.net.au . March 5, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021 .^ "Ashlyn Krueger crowned singles and doubles champion at USTA Billie Jean King Girls' 18s National Championships" . www.sdnews.com . Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021 .^ a b c d Chiesa, Victoria (July 21, 2021). "Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka lead 2021 US Open women's entry list" . US Open . Retrieved July 27, 2021 . ^ "STAN WAWRINKA WITHDRAWS FROM US OPEN, MOVING ANDY MURRAY INTO MAIN DRAW" . Tennis.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021 .^ "Wang Out, Flipkens In US Open" . Tennis Now. Retrieved August 7, 2021 .^ "Flipkens Out, Venus in US Open Main Draw" . Tennis Now . August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021 .^ a b "Sofia Kenin, Milos Raonic withdraw from 2021 US Open" . US Open . August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021 .