Sue Barker has confessed that she hoped Emma Raducanu and her fellow 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernanez would be the next big rivalry in women’s tennis. The BBC icon admitted she was likely being “biased” when she wished for the British No 1 to become the next champion to succeed the likes of Serena Williams.
Raducanu made history at the 2021 US Open, becoming the first qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam title when she won ten matches in a row without dropping a set en route to becoming the champion in Flushing Meadows. The Brit was part of the first all-teenage women’s final in New York since 1999, defeating Fernandez 6-4 6-3 to complete her fairytale run.
Fernandez herself had enjoyed a breakout tournament, beating multi-Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka and Angie Kerber plus two top five seeds in Elena Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka to reach the final. And Sue Barker has now admitted that she had hoped Raducanu and Fernandez would become the next big tennis rivalry following their final 13 months ago.
Speaking to The Telegraph about the current status of women’s tennis, the 1976 French Open winner said: “Although it’s exciting that you have different Grand Slam champions, you also need to have household names. And we don’t know who these people are.”
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“Watching that US Open final last year, with Emma and Leylah, I was thinking that this would be a fabulous rivalry – which is exactly what we need,” she said. “But I’m probably being biased because Emma’s British.”
Barker’s words come after Serena Williams ended her 27-year career at last month’s US Open. The 23-time Grand Slam champion had not played for a year after getting injured just six games into her Wimbledon first-round match in 2021 and made a comeback this summer, playing just five tournaments before hanging up her racket.
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