Emma Raducanu’s turbocharged run to the US Open title has captured the imagination of newspapers around the world.
Saturday’s final between two previously unknown teenagers was already a curiosity but the sheer quality of the tennis both women played — and the spectacle of a qualifier going on to win — inspired readers across the globe.
Theoretically, Romania has a claim to Raducanu, whose father comes from the country. But writing for Romania’s Digi 24 website, Christian Poepscu said those claims should not be taken too seriously.
“The only thing we can say is Romanian, without any hesitation, is her name — Răducanu,” he wrote. “Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to claim her as ‘ours’. She grew up in other countries, not ours. The fact that her father is Romanian is a genetic issue, but we cannot say that she is ours.
“But we can still love her! Nobody can stop us!”
Meanwhile in Canada, the country of Raducanu’s birth, the Toronto Star‘s Rosie DiManno wrote: “The whooping Brits will be insufferable, basking in the glory of their first female Grand Slam champion in 44 years.
“You know, though, Raducanu, who was born in Toronto two months after [Leylah] Fernandez was born in Montreal, has a Canadian passport and dual citizenship. Canada could, if we wanted to be really mingy about it, claim Raducanu as our own, at the very least get all co-proprietary about it.
“Nah. We’ll stick with Fernandez and revel in a marvellous tournament that ended one stride short of the triumphant finish line.”
For the Washington Post, the background of the two finalists — both born in Canada to immigrant parents — made the story all the more compelling.
“As cheering fans of each proudly held aloft British and Canadian flags in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Raducanu and Fernandez formed a powerful tableau of immigrant families seeking an opportunity to build a better life for their children,” the paper wrote.
In the New York Times, the sportswriter Christopher Clarey, like many, began to wonder just how far Raducanu will be able to reach into markets around the world.
“More big trophies are no guarantee, no matter how phenomenal Raducanu’s run was in New York.” he wrote. “But she seems wise beyond her years and not entirely of her generation: ‘I still haven’t checked my phone,’ she said Saturday night.
“Riches, unlike trophies, surely await. Raducanu is from Britain, a major market, and is telegenic with a global appeal as the well-spoken daughter of parents with roots in Romania and China. Also, her agent is Max Eisenbud, who helped turn Maria Sharapova’s unexpected Wimbledon victory at age 17 into gold and now has an even more unlikely success story to work with.”
The New York Post, reporting on the miracle in their own back yard, wrote: “Either result, a Cinderella was winning the 2021 US Open. It just turned out not to be lefty sweetheart Leylah Fernandez of Canada. It turned out to be the one from Great Britain in maybe an even bigger fairytale.”
In Germany, Bild wondered what happens in the immediate future. “Generally [Raducanu] is considered to be the more complete of the two players,” they wrote. “The next few months will show whether this is actually the case. Fernandez is obviously disappointed, but she doesn’t have to feel like a loser.”
Meanwhile in Italy, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, everyone’s crazy about Emma.
“The least expected and most intoxicatingly novel final flew by in under two hours and showed how unaffected by pressure two young women, born in 2002, are.
“The third match point proved the right one for Raducanu who broke out into a broad smile as she went from nothing (zero titles) to everything (a grand slam and $2.5m in prize money). From tomorrow she will be No23 in the world (a leap from 150), her opponent 27 (from 73).
“Tennis is blessed that it can welcome such a fresh wave of talent.”
Even the French couldn’t help falling in love with a rising British talent. Le Monde reported: “A star is born at Flushing Meadows that nobody saw coming, except perhaps those who remember that at Wimbledon this summer she had made the fourth round where she she had to give up, suffocated by the scale of what was at stake, the victim of respiratory problems.
“This time, it was she who took the breath away around her.”
In Spain, El Pais recognised Britain’s need for a new tennis superstar.
“British tennis, in need of a new focus once the Scotsman Andy Murray stepped aside due to his serious hip injury and without a strong candidates among the women, was delighted
“Women’s tennis and British tennis, the latter lacking in heroes, celebrate and welcome this youthful lightning bolt named Emma Raducanu. Until a little more than two months ago, she had a year and a half without competing and she had played only one match in the elite, in Nottingham.
“Back then she was still glued to her books, combining her sporting development with her studies. Now she enters history.
“From now on she is unique: from the qualifiers to the trophy it has been an immaculate ride.”
French sports newspaper L’Equipe speculated (perhaps a little wildly) about anyone who had money on the Briton to win, under pre-tournament odds of about 400-1.
“It’s a crazy story that nobody expected and anyone who had wagered a couple of quid on it at the start of the fortnight will be able to afford the holiday of their life in the sun with a coconut in their hand.”