Even now, 12 months later, the improbability and sheer audacity of it all still manages to astound. An 18-year-old from Bromley named Emma Raducanu, ranked 150th in the world and starting her second grand slam tournament in the first round of qualifying, arrived at the US Open and proceeded to win the whole thing. It was done with poise and style, without dropping a set and ending a 44-year wait for a British women’s singles winner at a grand slam, but above all was the sense of joy that surrounded the collective wonder at the achievement. It was a sporting fairytale, written in New York.
Back then, the energy Raducanu emitted across those two weeks last September felt infectious. Here was a player who took to the biggest tennis stadium in the world, faced the toughest tests of her career and attacked her opponents with freedom and belief – almost in defiance of the increasing levels of pressure and expectation that grew with her stunning run. Throughout it all, Raducanu approached matches with the feeling that she could not lose. It was the free swing that turned into the home run. It was the most brilliant and unexpected of stories.
