Emma Raducanu suffered US Open final heartbreak with mum and dad absent

All eyes will be on Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka when the 2023 US Open women’s singles final gets underway at Flushing Meadows on Saturday. Second seed Sabalenka is arguably the favourite, having triumphed at the Australian Open before reaching the semi-finals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon . She will begin next week as world No. 1 regardless of how she fares at Arthur Ashe Stadium today. But momentum is with 19-year-old Gauff and backed by a huge partisan crowd, if she puts home advantage to good use, then it could be the American who leaves New York as the champion. Should she achieve her goal, however, she won’t be the first teenager to leave the US Open as a singles champion. It’s two years to the day since then little-known British prodigy Emma Raducanu announced herself on the world stage by becoming the first qualifier ever to reach the final of a Grand Slam. The 18-year-old, who was born in Toronto but grew up in Bromley, defeated Greece’s Maria Sakkari in straight sets to book herself a place in the final, having not dropped a single set in the tournament, including across her three qualifying rounds. Another teenager – Canada’s Leylah Fernandez – would be waiting for the Brit in the final, but Raducanu proved untouchable, winning 6-4, 6-3 to become the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam and the youngest major champion since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004. But although the whole tournament appeared to be a fairytale for the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977, her achievement was actually bittersweet. Emma Raducanu stunned tennis by winning the US Open as a qualifier. (Image: Getty) Neither of Raducanu’s parents were able to be present to witness the greatest moment of their daughter’s career so far. Mum Renee and dad Ian were absent due to strict COVID-19 travel restrictions that had been in place at the time. Her run to the finally had been wholly unexpected, leaving her parents with not enough time to arrange the necessary clearance to travel to the USA. Speaking about the situation ahead of her semi-final against Sakkari, Raducanu said: “It’s not possible, because you need a waiver and it takes a couple weeks for approval. It’s too late and they won’t be able to get one.” With the amount of travelling that is involved for international tennis stars, Raducanu’s parents could be forgiven for presuming that their 18-year-old daughter was not going to reach the latter stages of the US Open, let alone win the whole thing. Emma Raducanu (right) beat fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in the 2021 US Open final. (Image: Getty) But it was her semi-final performance that finally made the rising star realise that she was now deservedly dining at the top table in tennis. Speaking after the match, she said: “I knew I had some sort of level inside of me that was similar to these girls, but I didn’t know if I was able to maintain it over a set or over two sets. “It’s been extremely difficult because they always fight – they have so much experience which they use. I’m just so, so proud to have come through very tough moments in all of my matches. “To be able to do it and play the best players in the world and beat them, I honestly can’t believe it. The time here in New York has gone so fast. I’ve just been taking care of each day and before you know it, three weeks later, I’m in the final and I can’t actually believe it.” Raducanu will watch this year’s final from afar as she continues to recover from wrist surgery that has blighted her season. But whoever prevails on Saturday, the fairytale of 2021 will never be too far from her mind. Her parents will hope it is not the last time she reaches the final of a Grand Slam.