The 2021 US Open rolls on, with Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez set to face each other in the women’s final on Saturday. The surprise title match is only the eighth Grand Slam final in the Open Era to feature two teens, and the first since the 1999 US Open, when Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis.
USOpen.org looks at the best quotes from Day 11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
“A surprise. Honestly, I just can’t believe it. A shock. Crazy. All of the above.” — Emma Raducanu on becoming the first qualifier (man or woman) ever to reach a Grand Slam final
“She plays fearless.” — Maria Sakkari on Emma Raducanu, after the 18-year-old beat her in two semifinal sets
“My dad would tell me all the time there’s no limit to my potential to what I can do. Every day, we just got to keep working hard, we got to keep going for it. Nothing’s impossible. There’s no limit to what I can do.” — Leylah Fernandez
“This is life. If you’re not using your opportunities, someone else will.” — No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who was upset by Leylah Fernandez, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
“British tennis has got someone to follow for another 15 years.” — Jamie Murray on Emma Raducanu
“We play our best tennis in the big moments, at the big tournaments.” — Joe Salisbury, who with partner Rajeev Ram topped the American duo of Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, 7-6, 6-4, to reach the US Open men’s doubles final
“It’s not like it happens very often that there are two Brits going into a Grand Slam final.” — Jamie Murray, who will partner with Bruno Soares in the US Open men’s doubles final against countryman Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram
“A lot of people doubted me, my family and my dreams. They kept saying ‘No,’ that I’m not going to be a professional tennis player... I remember one teacher... told me to stop playing tennis, you will never make it, and just focus on school. I'm just glad that she told me that, because every day I have that phrase in my head saying that I’m going to keep going, I’m going to push through, and I’m going to prove to her that everything I’ve dreamed of I’m going to achieve. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s many more things that we had to go through as a family.” — Leylah Fernandez
“I always had dreams of playing in Grand Slams, but I just didn’t know when they would come. To come this early, at this point in my career—I’ve only really been on tour for a month, two months since Wimbledon—it’s pretty crazy to me.” — Emma Raducanu
“I wouldn’t say that she did something. I would say that I destroyed myself.” — Aryna Sabalenka
Watch: Fernandez vs. Sabalenka, Semifinal Highlights
