Leylah Fernandez, Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz share a few similarities.
All three of them are 18 years old. Heading into Sunday, the trio will compete in Round 4 of the 2021 US Open.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz got things started on Friday, defeating World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets. Later that night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Canadian Leylah Fernandez upset four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in three sets. British player Emma Raducanu, coming off three wins in qualifying, is yet to drop a set en route to the Round of 16.
The youth aren’t just a future thought. The next generation is here, unafraid to perform at tennis’ biggest tournaments.
“I think that to have so many young players coming through is just really great for the game, because it just shows how strong this next generation is,” Raducanu said after her straight-set victory, 6-0, 6-1, on Saturday against Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Below are the top notes from the teenagers shining at the US Open:
1. The last US Open to have at least one man and one woman 18 or under in the Round of 16 was 1998. The 1998 US Open saw four teenagers make the fourth round: Marat Safin (18), Venus Williams (18), Martina Hingis (17), Anna Kournikova (17). Safin and Kournikova both lost in the fourth round to Pete Sampras and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, respectively. Williams made the semifinals, falling to eventual champion Lindsay Davenport. Hingis advanced to the final, where she lost to Davenport. These four players made the second week of the US Open in their debut main draw appearance. Alcaraz and Raducanu achieved the same, while Fernandez is into the US Open Round of 16 in just her second attempt.
2. The last Grand Slam to have at least one man and one woman 18 or under was the 2005 Australian Open, featuring four-time US Open champion Rafael Nadal (18), Maria Sharapova (17), Vera Dushevina (18) and Evgenia Linetskaya (18). Nadal, Dushevina and Linetskaya all lost in the fourth round, while Sharapova made the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams.
3. It’s been over 10 years since three (or more) 18-or-under players reached at least the fourth round of a Grand Slam. At the US Open, it was 2007, where Tamira Paszek (16), Victoria Azarenka (18), Agnieszka Radwanska (18) and Agnes Szavay (18) reached the final 16. Szavay made it to the quarterfinals, before losing to eventual finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova. Including all Grand Slams, this feat occurred most recently at the 2008 Australian Open, featuring Caroline Wozniacki (17), Nicole Vaidisova (18) and Radwanska (18). Radwanska reached the quarterfinals, before losing to Daniela Hantuchova.
4. With his win over Tsitsipas, Alcaraz became the youngest in US Open history to beat a top-3 opponent, since the ATP rankings developed in 1973. At all the Grand Slams, Alcaraz became the youngest in 32 years, when Michael Chang (17) defeated Ivan Lendl in the fourth round at 1989 Roland Garros.
5. Alcaraz became the youngest to reach a US Open fourth round since 1989, when Michael Chang (17) and Pete Sampras (18) achieved the same result. Both Chang and Sampras lost in the Round of 16. At all Grand Slams, Alcaraz is the youngest since Andrei Medvedev (17) at the 1992 French Open. If the 18-year-old defeats German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk on Sunday, he will be the youngest US Open quarterfinalist since the ATP rankings developed in 1972.
6. Leylah Fernandez is the latest Canadian teenager to reach the fourth round of the US Open. Fernandez joins Carling Bassett-Seguso (1984) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) as the only Canadian women teenagers to reach the second week at the US Open. Bassett-Seguso reached the semifinals in 1984, while Andreescu won the US Open in 2019.
7. With her victory over Osaka, Fernandez joins Bassett-Seguso as the youngest Canadian women to record a top-10 victory at the US Open. The 18-year-old also becomes the youngest Canadian woman since Bassett-Seguso to reach the second week in her second US Open main draw appearance.
8. At Wimbledon in July, Raducanu became the youngest British woman to reach the Round of 16 in the Open Era. With her three wins at Flushing Meadows, the 18-year-old is now the youngest British woman to reach the second week of the US Open in the Open Era. Raducanu is also the youngest British woman to reach back-to-back second weeks in her first two Grand Slam main draw appearances.
9. Raducanu becomes the 12th woman qualifier to reach the final 16 at the US Open in the Open Era and the first from Britain since Johanna Konta (2015). If Raducanu defeats American Shelby Rogers in the fourth round, she will become just the third qualifier to reach the US Open quarterfinals, joining Kaia Kanepi (2017) and Barbara Gerken (1981). Raducanu is also the third qualifier to reach the Round of 16 without dropping a set, joining Gerken (1981) and Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld (2008). She set a record for fewest games lost for a qualifier en route to the US Open Round of 16 (12)
10. In the Open Era, Pete Sampras is the only male teenager to win the US Open (1990, at 19), while 10 teen-aged women were victorious in Flushing Meadows. If Alcaraz were to win in New York, he’d be just the second male teenager to do so and the youngest in the Open Era. Raducanu would be just the third 18-year-old to win the US Open, joining Tracy Austin (1981) and Monica Seles (1992). Since Fernandez is turning 19 on Sept. 6, she'd be the youngest 19-year-old to win the US Open.
Sources: ATP, WTA, USTA
