Emma Raducanu has revealed in an interview with ESPN that her goal was to win enough prize money to replace a pair of AirPods she had lost just before her first-round qualifying match at the US Open three weeks ago. And now, after winning the maiden Grand Slam title – $2.5 million in prize money, Emma can buy herself as many AirPods as she wants.
The 18-year-old created history after defeating the 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez in the women’s singles final at US Open 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday. She became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title ever. Emma Raducanu also became the first British woman in 44 years to win a Grand Slam title.
In a post-game interview with ESPN, Raducanu said: “There’s a running joke in my team because before my first-round qualifying match I lost my AirPods and I was basically running around the changing room like three minutes before my call to go on trying to find it but I lost it.”
“I was thinking to myself, ‘You know what, if you win this match, you can buy yourself a pair of AirPods,’ and that’s become the running joke!” she added.
Here’s the interview:
Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title in the history of the sport
Raducanu was ranked 150th before the start of the US Open. She won 3 qualifying matches before entering her 2nd Grand Slam main draw. And now after winning the Grand Slam title, Emma Raducanu will be among the world’s top 50 players. Raducanu won 10 matches straight at the Flushing Meadows, three during qualifying and seven in the main draw. The most astonishing feat is she did this without dropping a single set in the whole tournament.
Raducanu became the first woman to win the US Open title without dropping a set since Serena Williams in 2014. She also became the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 17-years-old.