On September 11, 2021, Arthur Ashe Stadium was witness to arguably the most joyous moment of the tennis year. The timing was meaningful—20 years after 9.11, 18 months into a global pandemic. Over the course of a summer fortnight in New York, fans and players alike had created a lively US Open, all parties grateful for the chance to savor the world’s best tennis players at the year’s final major.
So it was that a pair of teenagers, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, played each other in the women’s singles final. The tennis itself was fairly straightforward, Raducanu’s depth and pace the keys to a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
So as 2022 gets underway, what can we expect from these two engaging players? Having now soared from the pack, how will their respective tennis journeys progress?
First, expect losses—plenty of losses in all sorts of ways. Raducanu’s US Open appearance marked only the fourth time she’d played in the main draw of a WTA event. Fernandez had once reached the third round of a major. As well as these two played over the course of two weeks in New York—actually, three for Raducanu, entered as a qualifier—one great showing hardly guarantees future deep runs. In addition to the four majors, life week in and week out on the pro tour, in places like Dubai and Lyon, Indian Wells and Stuttgart, is where a player over time reveals competitive character.
Layered into the demands of the tour is the current global environment. As if being a professional athlete wasn’t demanding enough, the challenges of international travel during a pandemic add even more stress. Surely, Raducanu and Fernandez will look to handle all of this delicately.Raducanu and Fernandez in 2022 will also come under an extremely bright spotlight of media coverage and marketing exposure. At one level, this is what anyone who seeks to be a pro tennis player hopes for: success and attendant wealth. But for those who win big as teenagers, it can be jarring. As the US Open runner-up, Fernandez will experience this less.
So yes, there will be losses and there will be moments away from tennis and there will be strange moments of public fame and infamy. Each will be forced to adjust with this everywhere she goes in 2022—everything from a tough loss to a coaching change to parent-player matters to public interactions with other celebrities.
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