2021 US Open – Women's singles
Tennis tournament
2021 tennis event results
Emma Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez in the final , 6–4, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2021 US Open. It was her first major title, and she became the first qualifier to win a major. Additionally, she became the first British woman to win a singles major since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon Championships , and the second player to win the US Open on her debut after Bianca Andreescu in 2019 .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] Aged 18, Raducanu became the youngest major champion since Maria Sharapova at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships and with a ranking of world No. 150, the lowest-ranked player to win a major since Kim Clijsters at the 2009 US Open , and the youngest player to win the title since Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open . She also won the title without losing a set during the tournament, including during her three qualification matches, and was not taken to a tiebreaker in any set. This was her first WTA Tour singles title, making her the fourth woman in the Open Era to win a major as her first singles title.[ i]
Naomi Osaka was the defending champion,[ 4] but was defeated by Fernandez in the third round.
The final marked the first all-teenage major final since Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis in 1999, and the first women's singles major final in the Open Era to feature two unseeded players.[ 5] Raducanu and Fernandez both made their top 30 debuts following the tournament. Fernandez was the youngest player to defeat three top-five seeded players in the same major since Williams at the 1999 US Open.[ 6] [ 7]
This was the first major since the 2011 French Open and first US Open since 2003 where neither of the Williams sisters participated.[ 8] This event also marked the final major appearance for former world No. 6 Carla Suárez Navarro , who lost in the first round to Danielle Collins .[ 9]
None of the top 20 seeds lost prior to the third round, the first time this occurred since the introduction of the 32-seed format in 2001 .[ 10] The defeats of Karolína Plíšková and Barbora Krejčíková in the quarterfinals guaranteed two first-time major finalists; Raducanu and Fernandez emerged to become those players. This also ensured that, for the first time since 2014 , eight different players contested the four major finals in a season.
This marked the final US Open appearance for 2016 champion Angelique Kerber . She lost to Fernandez in the fourth round. Kerber subsequently went on maternity leave in 2023 and later retired from professional tennis in 2024.
Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.
Draw
Key
Finals
Top half
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Bottom half
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Championship match statistics
Category
Raducanu
Fernandez
1st serve %
49/71 (69%)
45/78 (58%)
1st serve points won
33 of 49 = 67%
25 of 45 = 56%
2nd serve points won
10 of 22 = 45%
15 of 33 = 45%
Total service points won
43 of 71 = 57.33%
40 of 78 = 51.28%
Aces
3
2
Double faults
2
5
Winners
22
18
Unforced errors
25
26
Net points won
11 of 15 = 73%
9 of 12 = 75%
Break points converted
4 of 18 = 22%
2 of 9 = 22%
Return points won
38 of 78 = 49%
28 of 71 = 43%
Total points won
81
68
Source
Seeded players
The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on WTA rankings as of August 23, 2021. Rank and points before are as of August 30, 2021.
As a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system, players are defending the greater of their points from the 2019 and 2020 tournaments.[ 11] In addition, points from tournaments held during the weeks of September 9, 2019 and September 7, 2020 will be dropped at the end of the tournament and replaced by the player's next best result.
Seed
Rank
Player
Points before
Points defending from 2019 or 2020
Points won
Points after
Status
1
1
Ashleigh Barty
10,185
240
130
10,075
Third round lost to Shelby Rogers
2
2
Aryna Sabalenka
7,010
70
780
7,720
Semifinals lost to Leylah Fernandez
3
3
Naomi Osaka
6,666
2,000
130
4,796
Third round lost to Leylah Fernandez
4
4
Karolína Plíšková
5,530
240+470
430+65
5,315
Quarterfinals lost to Maria Sakkari [17]
5
5
Elina Svitolina
5,210
780
430
4,860
Quarterfinals lost to Leylah Fernandez
6
7
Bianca Andreescu
4,537
2,000
240
2,777
Fourth round lost to Maria Sakkari [17]
7
8
Iga Świątek
4,461
130
240
4,571
Fourth round lost to Belinda Bencic [11]
8
9
Barbora Krejčíková
4,273
(35)†
430
4,668
Quarterfinals lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2]
9
10
Garbiñe Muguruza
4,210
70
240
4,380
Fourth round lost to Barbora Krejčíková [8]
10
11
Petra Kvitová
4,170
240
130
4,060
Third round lost to Maria Sakkari [17]
11
12
Belinda Bencic
4,170
780
430
3,820
Quarterfinals lost to Emma Raducanu [Q]
12
13
Simona Halep
3,881
70
240
4,051
Fourth round lost to Elina Svitolina [5]
13
14
Jennifer Brady
3,489
780+29
0+15
2,695
Withdrew due to injury
14
15
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
3,420
70
240
3,590
Fourth round lost to Karolína Plíšková [4]
15
16
Elise Mertens
3,330
430
240
3,140
Fourth round lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2]
16
17
Angelique Kerber
3,245
240
240
3,245
Fourth round lost to Leylah Fernandez
17
18
Maria Sakkari
3,210
240
780
3,750
Semifinals lost to Emma Raducanu [Q]
18
19
Victoria Azarenka
3,160
1,300
130
1,990
Third round lost to Garbiñe Muguruza [9]
19
20
Elena Rybakina
3,083
70+180
130+105
3,068
Third round lost to Simona Halep [12]
20
21
Ons Jabeur
2,975
130
130
2,975
Third round lost to Elise Mertens [15]
21
23
Coco Gauff
2,875
130
70
2,815
Second round lost to Sloane Stephens
22
24
Karolína Muchová
2,862
240
10
2,632
First round lost to Sara Sorribes Tormo
23
25
Jessica Pegula
2,425
130
130
2,425
Third round lost to Belinda Bencic [11]
24
26
Paula Badosa
2,343
30+110
70+30
2,303
Second round lost to Varvara Gracheva
25
27
Daria Kasatkina
2,340
10
130
2,460
Third round lost to Elina Svitolina [5]
26
29
Danielle Collins
2,270
70
130
2,330
Third round lost to Aryna Sabalenka [2]
27
30
Jeļena Ostapenko
2,170
130
0
2,040
Withdrew for medical reasons
28
28
Anett Kontaveit
2,315
240
130
2,205
Third round lost to Iga Świątek [7]
29
31
Veronika Kudermetova
2,040
10+110
10+100
2,030
First round lost to Sorana Cîrstea
30
32
Petra Martić
2,005
240+305
70+55
1,585
Second round lost to Ajla Tomljanović
31
33
Yulia Putintseva
1,910
430
10
1,490
First round lost to Kaia Kanepi
32
34
Ekaterina Alexandrova
1,866
70
70
1,866
Second round lost to Kamilla Rakhimova [LL]
† The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2019 or 2020. Accordingly, points for her 16th best result are deducted instead.
Withdrawn players
The following players would have been seeded, but withdrew before the tournament began.
Rank
Player
Points before
Points defending from 2019 or 2020
Points after
Withdrawal reason
6
Sofia Kenin
5,030
240+100
4,691
Positive COVID-19 test
22
Serena Williams
2,891
1,300
1,591
Hamstring injury in right leg
Other entry information
Wild card entries
Qualifiers
Lucky losers
Protected ranking
Withdrawals
† – not included on entry list & – withdrew from entry list
See also
Explanatory notes
^ Leylah Fernandez became the first player of Southeast Asian descent (Filipino descent) to reach the final.
^ Last direct acceptance
^ Kirsten Flipkens (105) had initially replaced Wang, but later withdrew due to continuous injuries.[ 15] Venus Williams (108) as the next player initially entered into the main draw to replace Flipkens, but she later withdrew due to recurring injury.[ 16] [ 17]
References
^ "Emma Raducanu marches into US Open semis with easy win over Bencic" . The Guardian . September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021 .
^ "Emma Raducanu roars past Sakkari to set up US Open final against Fernandez" . The Guardian . September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021 .
^ "Emma Raducanu: British 18-year-old makes tennis history with US Open final win" . The Guardian . September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021 .
^ "Naomi Osaka fights back to sink Victoria Azarenka and regain US Open" . The Guardian . September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020 .
^ "Raducanu makes history with win over Sakkari; sets all-teen US Open final vs. Fernandez" . wtatennis.com .
^ "Fearless Fernandez battles past Sabalenka into first Grand Slam final at US Open" . wtatennis.com . Retrieved September 12, 2021 .
^ "Emma Raducanu wins US Open by beating Leylah Fernandez for maiden Grand Slam" . BBC Sport. September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021 .
^ "Venus Williams joins Serena in withdrawing from US Open: 'Not the best news' " . New York Post . August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021 .
^ "Cancer-free Suarez Navarro preparing for final farewell tour" . wtatennis.com . Retrieved August 30, 2021 .
^ "Players by Seed: Women's Seeds" . usopen.org . Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2021 .
^ "WTA weighs up rankings change that could affect world number one Ash Barty" . www.abc.net.au . March 5, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021 .
^ "Ashlyn Krueger crowned singles and doubles champion at USTA Billie Jean King Girls' 18s National Championships" . www.sdnews.com . Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021 .
^ a b c d Chiesa, Victoria (July 21, 2021). "Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka lead 2021 US Open women's entry list" . US Open . Retrieved July 27, 2021 .
^ "STAN WAWRINKA WITHDRAWS FROM US OPEN, MOVING ANDY MURRAY INTO MAIN DRAW" . Tennis.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021 .
^ "Wang Out, Flipkens In US Open" . Tennis Now. Retrieved August 7, 2021 .
^ "Flipkens Out, Venus in US Open Main Draw" . Tennis Now . August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021 .
^ a b "Sofia Kenin, Milos Raonic withdraw from 2021 US Open" . US Open . August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021 .
Grand Slam events WTA 1000 tournaments WTA 500 tournaments
Abu Dhabi (S , D )*
Melbourne 1 (S , D )*
Melbourne 2 (S , D )*
Melbourne 3 (S )*
Adelaide (S , D )
Doha (S , D )
St. Petersburg (S , D )
Charleston 1 (S , D )
Stuttgart (S , D )
Berlin (S , D )
Eastbourne (S , D )
San Jose (S , D )
Zhengzhou †
Ostrava (S , D )
Tokyo †
Chicago 2 (S , D )*
Moscow (S , D )
WTA 250 tournaments
Melbourne 4 (S , D )*
Lyon (S , D )
Guadalajara (S , D )
Monterrey (S , D )
Bogotá (S , D )
Charleston 2 (S , D )*
İstanbul (S , D )
Belgrade (S , D )
Parma (S , D )*
Strasbourg (S , D )
Nottingham (S , D )
Rosmalen †
Birmingham (S , D )
Bad Homburg (S , D )
Hamburg (S , D )
Budapest (S , D )
Lausanne (S , D )
Prague (S , D )
Palermo (S , D )
Gdynia (S , D )
Cluj-Napoca 1 (S , D )
Chicago 1 (S , D )*
Cleveland (S , D )
Luxembourg (S , D )
Portorož (S , D )*
Nur-Sultan (S , D )*
Tenerife (S , D )*
Courmayeur (S , D )*
Cluj-Napoca 2 (S , D )*
Linz (S , D )
Team events Bold denotes the mandatory tournaments (WTA 1000)† –
Tournaments are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic * –
Tournaments are introduced due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic