Women’s tennis at the US Open

It has been a dramatic women’s tennis event throughout at the 2021 US Open.  Even though it was only two sets, the final between Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez was entertaining and lasted ~ 100 min, with plenty of high-quality shots from both players.  Fernandez probably felt tired at the end due to her previous 4 straight 3-setters: too many first-serves into the net, and her forehand didn’t produce wide-angled shots as before.  Amazingly, Raducanu was the one who had played 3 more matches, but she didn’t even lose a single set for the whole tournament.  There was a suspicion that Fernandez might have an edge entering the final because she had been beating opponents with a conventional style like Raducanu, while Fernandez is unique and left-handed.  But at the end her stamina likely fell short, and Raducanu is indeed different.  Raducanu looks and plays like Li Na, hitting strong, flat forehand and backhand groundstrokes.  Like Fernandez, Raducanu plays close to the baselines, so Fernandez couldn’t gain more reaction time like before.  And Raducanu was consistent enough to make fewer errors. 

So what can one make of the future of the two?  Raducanu plays like Li Na, but she is clearly more composed, consistent, and much smarter, which bodes well for her future.  Fernandez plays like a lefty Hingis.  In these days when power is everything, this is not a winning formula. 

On the other hand, predicting female athletes somehow has been a losing cause.  See May 23, Aug 12, and Aug 17, 2012 blogs’ high praise and hope for Li Xuerui, who suffered a knee injury in 2016, came back ~ one year later, and retired a further ~ one year later.  But she had been a disappointment even before 2016.  In her case, the blame was her coaching, probably on Chen Jin.  Li was playing an attacking style in 2012 and looked invincible.  Then after her London win, she morphed into a clearing/rallying player.  But she was never a high-stamina person and couldn’t play that style over three long sets.  By 2015 she was no longer any different from other players.  What a big waste of talent.

Another case is Naomi Osaka (Feb 21, 2021 blog), although her story is not over yet.  She has the potential to be an all-time great, but everything is now up in the air.  In her loss to Fernandez at the Open, she seemed not wanting to move, or play at all.  This is mental.  If she can’t think straight, then no chance more achievements.  Maybe her coaching is to blame, so is herself.