| Female Teenage British Athletes 23:05 - Sep 12 with 205 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Story 1
Emma Raducanu wins US Open by beating Leylah Fernandez for maiden Grand Slam
Emma Raducanu ended Britain's 44-year wait for a women's Grand Slam singles champion as she beat Leylah Fernandez to win the US Open in the most thrilling style.
The 18-year-old ended her scarcely believable run in New York with a 6-4 6-3 win over her 19-year-old Canadian opponent in a high-quality final.
Raducanu threw herself to the floor in disbelief as she fired down an ace to conclude what has been the most remarkable journey.
Raducanu served for the match at 5-3 but cut her leg as she went break point down, leading to a medical time-out and a clearly irritated Fernandez expressing her frustration to the match official.
However, Raducanu shrugged off the delay, saving a further break point before closing out her third championship point.
The two shared a warm hug before Raducanu headed up the stairs at Arthur Ashe Stadium to celebrate with her support box.
Raducanu was cheered on by an emotional Virginia Wade, who was the last British woman to win a major trophy at Wimbledon in 1977.
"It means so much to have Virginia Wade here and also Tim Henman," Raducanu said in her on-court speech.
"They are British icons and for me to follow in their footsteps gave me the belief I could do it."
With the victory, Raducanu becomes:
The first British female winner at Flushing Meadows since Virginia Wade in 1968
The first qualifier in the Open era to win a Slam
The youngest women's Slam champion since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004
The youngest Briton to win a Grand Slam title
The first woman to win the US Open without dropping a set since Serena Williams in 2014
She will take home £1.8m in prize money, rise to 23 in the world rankings and will become the British number one on Monday.
Raducanu will also know that she has starred in one of the biggest moments in British sporting history - and captured the imagination of the fans at home and in New York.
The rise & rise of Raducanu
Astonishing. Ridiculous. Meteoric. Unbelievable. Take your pick - but no word can ever really sum up what Raducanu has achieved.
Two weeks ago, Raducanu had a flight booked back to the UK, just in case she did not come through qualifying in New York. Seventeen days later, she has lifted the trophy in front of a rapturous crowd.
Raducanu did not just come through qualifying: she dominated the tournament. The most games she lost in one set in her entire run in New York - five - came in the second round of qualifying.
It is not just that Raducanu has kept on winning, but she has done it with such dominance. She did not drop a set en route to the final, despite meeting Olympic champion Belinda Bencic and in-form Maria Sakkari on the way.
In the big moments, she has held her nerve, trusting in her power and serve, even when she saw two championship points go by in the final.
This is someone who, two months ago, was collecting her A-Level results. She only made her WTA main-draw debut in June. All this has happened so quickly, and yet not once has Raducanu not looked like she belongs.
With all the attention on Raducanu after Wimbledon - as well as questions from some about her mental toughness - she could have easily been overwhelmed.
Instead, she trusted in herself, hired a new coach in Andrew Richardson and went to America to play in the various events.
No-one could have seen this coming; not the ease with which Raducanu would brush her opponents aside, or the calmness with which she would approach every match.
But Raducanu always believed. And she will leave New York as the US Open champion.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/58533341 | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Female Teenage British Athletes on 23:10 - Sep 12 with 202 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Story 2
Keely Hodgkinson: GB teenager wins Diamond League 800m title to cap extraordinary year
Britain's Keely Hodgkinson won the Diamond League 800m title to bank $30,000 in prize money and cap an extraordinary year.
The 19-year-old began 2021 aiming at the European Junior Championships, but won European indoor gold, the British title and Olympic silver.
She proved stronger and shrewder than more experienced rivals, coming through to win in one minute 57.98 seconds.
Dina Asher-Smith was second in the 100m before being well beaten over 200m.
Asher-Smith is ending the season on the comeback trail having torn her hamstring less than a month before the Olympics and failed to make the 100m final in Tokyo before pulling out of the 200m.
The 25-year-old clocked 10.87secs in her first outing of the night in Zurich, only four hundredths off her personal best, to finish behind Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah.
Jamaican Thompson-Herah's time of 10.65 is in the top 10 ever run in the event, but felt like a slight disappointment after a 10.54 victory in Eugene three weeks ago suggested she might break Florence Griffith-Joyner's 33-year-old world record of 10.49.
Britain's Daryll Neita claimed a personal best 10.93 in fourth.
Later in the evening, a tired-looking Asher-Smith was third in 22.19 as Namibia's Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma stretched away to win in 21.78.
Hodgkinson's victory gives her a wildcard entry into next year's World Championships in Eugene, a valuable asset with strong domestic rivals such as Reekie, who finished fourth, and fellow Scot Laura Muir.
"It's been a crazy year, I don't think I have had a chance to reflect on it yet," said Hodgkinson.
"There is a lot to sink in but I have enjoyed every aspect of it.
"I am going home then straight on a plane to Greece, and I am not going home for ten days. I don't want to see a track for those ten days, and I am leaving my running shoes at home."
Britain's Olympic bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw finished fourth in the pole vault with a third-time clearance of 4.67m - 23cm short of the personal best she set in June.
"Emotionally I have felt so drained," Bradshaw said of her post-Tokyo form. "Pole vault is such a mental event - if you don't have a clear mind it can be hard.
"That Olympic medal is something that I have wanted my whole career and winning it is such a release that it is has affected me a lot."
The competition was won by Russian Anzhelika Sidorova who became only the third woman in history to clear five metres, going second in the all-time list with a 5.01m clearance.
Only compatriot Yelena Isinbayeva, who vaulted 5.06m at the same stage 12 years ago, has gone higher in history.
In the final action of the night, in front of a raucous crowd, Sweden's Armand Duplantis failed in a shot to break his own pole vault world record, coming up short over three attempts at 6.19m.
World record holder Karsten Warholm enjoyed a comfortable win in the 400m hurdles where he hasn't lost a race since 2018.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/58509157 | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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