2021 US Open – Women's singles explained

Champ: Emma Raducanu
Runner: Leylah Fernandez
Score:6–4, 6–3
Draw:128 (16 / 8)
Seeds:32

See main article: 2021 US Open (tennis).

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.

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.

This marked the final US Open appearance for 2016 champion Angelique Kerber. She lost to Fernandez in the fourth round. Kerber subsequently went on maternity leave in 2023 and later retired from professional tennis in 2024.

Draw

Top half

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 8

Championship match statistics

See also: 2021 US Open – Women's singles final.

Category Raducanu Fernandez
1st serve %49/71 (69%) 45/78 (58%)
1st serve points won33 of 49 = 67% 25 of 45 = 56%
2nd serve points won10 of 22 = 45% 15 of 33 = 45%
Total service points won43 of 71 = 57.33% 40 of 78 = 51.28%
Aces 3 2
Double faults 2 5
Winners22 18
Unforced errors25 26
Net points won 11 of 15 = 73% 9 of 12 = 75%
Break points converted 4 of 18 = 22% 2 of 9 = 22%
Return points won 38 of 78 = 49% 28 of 71 = 43%
Total points won bgcolor=98FB98981 68
Source

Seeded players

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.

SeedRankPlayerPoints before Points defending from 2019 or 2020Points wonPoints afterStatus
11 Ashleigh Barty10,18524013010,075
22 Aryna Sabalenka7,010707807,720Semifinals lost to Leylah Fernandez
33 Naomi Osaka6,6662,0001304,796Third round lost to Leylah Fernandez
445,530240+470430+655,315Quarterfinals lost to Maria Sakkari [17]
555,2107804304,860Quarterfinals lost to Leylah Fernandez
67 Bianca Andreescu4,5372,0002402,777Fourth round lost to Maria Sakkari [17]
784,4611302404,571Fourth round lost to Belinda Bencic [11]
894,273(35)4304,668Quarterfinals lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2]
9104,210702404,380Fourth round lost to Barbora Krejčíková [8]
1011 Petra Kvitová4,1702401304,060Third round lost to Maria Sakkari [17]
1112 Belinda Bencic4,1707804303,820Quarterfinals lost to Emma Raducanu [Q]
1213 Simona Halep3,881702404,051Fourth round lost to Elina Svitolina [5]
1314 Jennifer Brady3,489780+290+152,695Withdrew due to injury
14153,420702403,590Fourth round lost to Karolína Plíšková [4]
15163,3304302403,140Fourth round lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2]
16173,2452402403,245Fourth round lost to Leylah Fernandez
17183,2102407803,750Semifinals lost to Emma Raducanu [Q]
18193,1601,3001301,990Third round lost to Garbiñe Muguruza [9]
19203,08370+180130+1053,068Third round lost to Simona Halep [12]
20212,9751301302,975Third round lost to Elise Mertens [15]
21232,875130702,815
22242,862240102,632
23252,4251301302,425Third round lost to Belinda Bencic [11]
24262,34330+11070+302,303Second round lost to Varvara Gracheva
25272,340101302,460Third round lost to Elina Svitolina [5]
26292,270701302,330Third round lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2]
2730 Jeļena Ostapenko2,17013002,040Withdrew for medical reasons
28282,3152401302,205Third round lost to Iga Świątek [7]
29312,04010+11010+1002,030
30322,005240+30570+551,585Second round lost to Ajla Tomljanović
31331,910430101,490
3234 Ekaterina Alexandrova1,86670701,866Second 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.

Withdrawn players

The following players would have been seeded, but withdrew before the tournament began.

RankPlayerPoints before Points defending from 2019 or 2020Points afterWithdrawal reason
6 Sofia Kenin5,030240+1004,691Positive COVID-19 test
22 Serena Williams2,8911,3001,591Hamstring injury in right leg

Other entry information

Qualifiers

See also: 2021 US Open – Women's singles qualifying.

Withdrawals

– not included on entry list
& – withdrew from entry list

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Emma Raducanu marches into US Open semis with easy win over Bencic. The Guardian. 8 September 2021. 9 September 2021.
  2. News: Emma Raducanu roars past Sakkari to set up US Open final against Fernandez. The Guardian. 10 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
  3. News: Emma Raducanu: British 18-year-old makes tennis history with US Open final win. The Guardian. 12 September 2021. 14 September 2021.
  4. News: Naomi Osaka fights back to sink Victoria Azarenka and regain US Open. The Guardian. 12 September 2020. 14 September 2020.
  5. Web site: Raducanu makes history with win over Sakkari; sets all-teen US Open final vs. Fernandez. wtatennis.com.
  6. Web site: Fearless Fernandez battles past Sabalenka into first Grand Slam final at US Open. wtatennis.com. 12 September 2021.
  7. Web site: Emma Raducanu wins US Open by beating Leylah Fernandez for maiden Grand Slam. BBC Sport. 12 September 2021. 14 September 2021.
  8. News: Venus Williams joins Serena in withdrawing from US Open: 'Not the best news'. New York Post. 25 August 2021. 26 August 2021.
  9. Web site: Cancer-free Suarez Navarro preparing for final farewell tour. wtatennis.com. 30 August 2021.
  10. Web site: Players by Seed: Women's Seeds. usopen.org. 3 September 2021. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200311101843/https://www.usopen.org/en_US/players/seed.html . 2020-03-11 .
  11. Web site: 2021-03-05. WTA weighs up rankings change that could affect world number one Ash Barty. 2021-09-17. www.abc.net.au.