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Well I have never got excited about a new British tennis star but this Emma Raducanu is something else. She just blasts past whoever is on the other side of the net. It doesn't matter who they have beaten before. Utterly amazing. And astonishingly, she has not even dropped a set. How far can she go? If she makes the final, they had better put this on the telly. Come on Emma!!!

Shouldn't you be taking about cycling (or climbing).

It's on Amazon Prime. She's awesome, as is the (just) 19 year old Leylah Fernandez, who's also in the semis, having just beaten Osaka, Kerber and Svitolina.

Both into the final. Outstanding. Sunday night viewing now confirmed. Its on 9pm BST.

Edit. Or is that Saturday? 

Yes 9pm BST Saturday.

These girls will know each other well. I can see Emma smashed her opponent at the junior US final three years ago but I can't find any recent form, which while interesting,  will probably count for nothing given both have ripped up the books on reaching the final.

$2.5 million if she wins, and that will just be pocket money after all the sponsors beating a path to her door. If she wins, and she certainly has the talent  & temperament, she is an odds on certainty for the SPotY award. Sorry Joe!

Defo. Will be deserved too.

Actually seems to be a sports person WITH a personality as well.

... and solves the problem of deciding which gold medal winner or England football player to give it to!

Which would be a pleasant change because SPOTY usually has little to do with personality. The last one I can remember was Wiggo, because he was different and hadn't allowed all the rough edges to be smoothed off.

She looks like a sponsors dream, winner, good looks, and smiles, interacts happily with fans, etc. Hopefully the fame and pressure she will have from now on won't change her persona.

I'm not sure you can say that anymore. You need to use the Daily Mail/Salmon Trouser phrase of "fruity". 😁

Must be Autumn if this tedious bollocks is starting again. It’s a sporting achievement award, everyone knows this, it isn’t an award for the sports person with the best repartee.

She probably will win it if she wins on Saturday.

Stokes, Thomas, to be fair even Andy Murray is a lot more engaging than people first gave him credit for. Hamilton I’ll give you. A little further back Cavendish or Flintoff hardly lack character either.

The point is, the job of a professional sports person isn’t to be a comedian, it’s to be the best they can be at their sport.

The last England football player to win was David Beckham, in 2001, so that is hardly a prominent category of winner. 

Come on Tim!

Raducanu actually paid tribute to Tiger Tim for the support and inspiration he had given her. So yes, come on Tim!

A quick check of Greg Rusedski confirmed he won SPOTY in the 90s for just reaching the final. Precedent set...

That was back on the days before we were good at sport. The year after they gave it to Michael Owen, who had won nothing. Andy Murray won the US Open and the Olympics in 2012 and finished third. It took winning Wimbledon to get the SPOTY title.

I thought that was because the man was void of a personality though?

No, I think it's more of a sporting popularity contest, so a mixture of achievement and personality and skewed by the amount of national media exposure their sport gets.

I was being a little facetious however if she wins it, easy choice. If not it has to be Laura Kenny, Adam Peaty or one of our paralympians. England making the Euro final was good but they didn't have a standout player. Rashford should get special mention.

He has a great personality. The trouble is that people wrongly equate personality with "bubbly". Probably more because he is Scottish.

Surely Tom Daley has to be her main rival - as a role model he would be a fantastic winner anyway.

The man who cried when he got beaten in the final at Wimbledon and “won the nations hearts” I think you are misremembering the narrative.

Another good shout. Certainly top three/four. 

If she wins the USO, the way she's done it, the speed , her personality. No competition for me. If she doesn't and takes SPOTY, other winners should be rightly annoyed.

I'm not sure winning the Premier League golden boot whilst still a teenager counts as "nothing"!

But yes you're absolutely right, we were pretty bad at sport back then and it didn't take much to get SPOTY!

...back to the tennis. Both finalists are extraordinary. Fernandez has beaten a succession of top 10/20 players, while Raducanu looks so composed and hasn't dropped a set. Anyone here tennis savvy enough to call the final?

In the wings is Gauff, who is younger than both. Women's tennis looks set fair for the future.

That would also annoy Piers Morgan, so not all bad. 

It's nice to hear kids talking with admiration about someone who has worked hard to achieve something, rather than love island contestants 

Sarah Storey?

Rashford is a good call on the personality front. As in his character, not the superficial appearance.

I agree, if she wins this there will be an outcry if she doesn't win it. 

Reaching the final of a Grand Slam as a qualifier is unprecedented, doing it without losing a set is unbelievable.  

Winning it is something that would be called as unrealistic in a Hollywood film plot.  We're really talking Leicester winning the Premier League stuff here...

Good shout on the Paralympians, I think Sarah Storey would be my shout,.  Won her first Paralympic gold in 1992 now has 17 golds across various swimming and cycling events.

Not sure why Tom Daly is touted.  Finally won his first gold this year, having previously never achieved better than a Bronze.  Seems a nice lad and I'm loathe to criticise him, but he's never really lived up to the potential people thought he had when he was a young teenager.

Ha!  Typed my post as you typed yours!

100%

I think the problem with being the best in diving is that you have to beat the Chinese, who seem able to produce a succession of incredible divers. So although others may get the top spots occasionally, it's very difficult to be consistently at the top. Also, as a young teenager he was of course over-hyped.

Bit similar to how sprinting was in the Bolt era, you could be world class but he'd always be in the way.

I've been thinking about the Paralympians, and I came to the conclusion that in one way, it's easier to win a medal in the Paralympics than in the Olympics.

Note that I'm not decrying the efforts of Paralympic athletes, this is merely an observation.

The Paralympians are just as much athletes as Olympians and they have to train just as hard and put in the same effort and commitment. But for any event, there is a smaller pool of people trying to win that event, especially since it is often split further into different classifications.

So in an event at the Paralympics, the "spread" between the top and bottom performers will be larger than at an event in the Olympics; correspondingly, there will be less athletes at the top for each event.

So if you are one of those top Paralympic athletes, for the same amount of dedication and effort, you'll (on average) have a greater chance of winning than in the Olympics.

As a side point, I wish the Paralympics was at the same time as the Olympics (as at London for at least some events), or failing that immediately afterwards. Having a gap before they start lessens them since not so many people will watch.

I suppose Sarah Storey illustrates this point. In her prime as a cyclist (2008-2012?) she competed with able bodied athletes and would have won gold in 2012 had she made the final selection. 

Edit. Looked up here 3k pursuit time. It would have won Gold in 2000 by 3 seconds. 

Wow. That's impressive!

hit the nail on the head there. indeed there are many events which go straight to a final (and may not even fill out the final) which in the olympics there would be multiple rounds first. of course its incredibly impressive and inspiring what they have had to overcome to get there, and you could quite rightly argue that many paralympians have had to work harder and train more just to reach that level vs olympians as they have had to overcome their disability first, or learn to work with it. But despite all that, it is not the same sporting spectacle due to the lack of depth in the field, and because there are 5 or 6 mens 100m champions across the different catagories, not just 1 'fastest man alive' (for example).

this is not to knock down on the event, im just saying that in regards to an award such as SPOTY, the achievements of the olympic contenders generally outwiegh the achievements of their paralympic counterparts. 

and to the person who mentioned the england football team, dont make me laugh! they lost...

You can also apply this to different events in the able bodied Olympics. No question that Bolt was the fastest man in the world for a number of years. Was Steve Redgrave ever the best rower? 

well no you are comparing apples and pears. i dont know if rowing is in the paralympics, but if it is, there will be a 4 man 2km for the blind, and for lower limb amputees, and for upper limb amputees, and maybe for ceribal palsey (spelling?). In the olympics there is still 1 team that wins the mens 4 man boat race. does that make steve redgrave the fastest rower in the world? no, it makes him part of the fastest rowing team (which they would call boat) in the world. You can have a 1 man boat race just like you can have an individual pursuit in track cycling (its called singles skulls) but for whatever reason that doesnt carry the same prestige as the 4 or the 8.

Yes 9pm BST Saturday.

Not terrestial TV then?

Yes, there is rowing in the Paralympics, restricted to two disability classifications. However, given your complete ignorance of it, probably best not to comment.

The London Olympics closed on 12th August, the London Paralympics opened on 29th August. There were no Paralympic events held at or during the Olympics in London.

Yes he was.

Whilst you could argue he was simply 1 of the best 2 or 4 at each Olympics he took gold at thus maintaining his place in the un/coxed pairs or 4s, he also held the indoor 2k title for many years, then Pinsent took it for a while. So he was no slouch. He was consistent, year after year, largely avoided career ending injury and managed his diabetes. He also won medals at stroke, bow and sculling, so wasn't a one trick pony. 

Pinsent is a very strong second, both are arguably in a class of their own, ahead of Foster, Cracknell..etc They won a lot of double sculls together, and Redgrave in his early days was consistent in the Wingfields (sculling equivalent of the tide way). Arguably Pinsent carried the others towards the end of their careers. 

This ignores their coach, the real force behind it all, Jurgen Grobler. 

Perhaps, I thought you were making the point that only one man got a gold medal for running 100m, but in the Paralympics 5 or six did depending on their disability. My point was that 14 men get a gold medal for rowing 2000m, double that if you include sculling. For rowing there is the added advantage of being born in a large affluent country. 

A bit like the 4x100m relay? Can you name the four Italians? 

Trouble is, it's rarely awarded to the best or most significant sporting achievement, and regularly goes to some less worthy person from a sport with a high number of armchair enthusiasts (such as soccer) who effectively block vote.  Michael Owen being a classic example - the joke in athletics that year was that he only got it because he was the only one in the list that hadn't actually won anything, so it was a consolation prize.

Sorry Sean, we're bored of talking about Emma Raducanu and have moved on to arguing about who the best male rower was 20 years ago.

Was it Bruce Hooker?

I know nothing about rowing other than watching a bit every four years. For some reason I got the impression he possibly was, when he and Holmes? attempted to win two Golds, even though they got beaten by the Italian bothers? In the second event. 

From the other post I would say it means he was one of the top 30 or so rowers. 

This is sort of my point, it sounds like the winner of this is the "best" but there is only one. 

Could be similar to Fraser-Pryce individual Gold at their peak then Gold in the relay? Does that make Pinsent equivalent to Thompson-Herah

That was the impression I got. 

Appears all is not well since he left. 

In other US Open tennis news, Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury are into a deciding set in the final of the mens doubles.

Given her disability and given her sport I was wondering why she still doesn't compete with able bodied cyclists?

Are you sure there weren't some "demo" events during, I thought I remembered what's his name (the Suth Africaan moiderer) on his blades actually during the Olympics.

I think he competed in the able bodied Olympics, as well, in 2012?

I don't think he (or Pinsent) ever held the indoor 2k world record - Rob Waddell from NZ IIRC - single sculler - something like 5:37, whereas I'm not sure if any of the UK boys ever beat 5:40.

According to wikki he did win the indoor world championship, but just once and 1991, so not an Olympic year. 

Just looked it up, you're correct, that's probably what I'm remembering.

Apologies, Redgrave held the gb record from 98-2012. 

Footballers rarely win it, Beckham in 2001 was the last time. Athletes are by far the most successful when it comes to SPOTY.

Chattaway, Pirie, Hyman, Rand, Hemmery, Peters, Foster, Ovett, Coe, Thompson, Cram, Whitbread, McColgan, Christie, Edwards, Radcliffe, Holmes and Farah.

Oscar Pistorius competed in the Olympics and the Paralympics. 

Joe Salisbury is also in the Mixed Doubles semi's!

So is this article incorrect?

Tom’s incredible time beats the current GB Rowing men’s team record of 5:40 held by teammate Moe Sbihi, who himself broke Sir Matthew Pinsent’s 11-year record in 2015.

https://www.britishrowing.org/2020/06/tom-george-breaks-gb-rowing-team-2km-...

Great news. Live on Channel 4 from 8pm!

I don't even like tennis but this is great to watch. Awesome power. 

Come on Emma!

High quality stuff

I can't comprehend how stressful this must be for both players. It's gripping stuff, but inexperience and nerves may well be the deciding factor.

This is very tense

Too true!

It's getting bloody.......

YES!!

Yeeeeeeessssss!

Awesome.  Have a feeling these 2 will play each other a lot

That was absolutely gripping.

Amazing match.  Should have been in bed ages ago and now too hyper to sleep.  So impressive.

Well done to Channel 4 for splashing the cash to get this on normal tv.

I reckon that they might not have had to splash too much cash. It was a very big advert for Amazon, including the actual adverts.

Wow. Watched this with my teenage daughter, and watched history happen. That was special! 

Very looking forward to these two coming together many times over the coming years. 

Teenagers are great! 

I heard somewhere it was a seven figure sum.  But Amazon have said they will invest it back into British women's tennis.

Globally significant. Forget our British interest for a moment. First time a qualifier has ever won a Grand Slam. She never lost a set she entered the competition at number 150 in the world and will leave it at number 14.

Incredible.

Incredible stuff... It's like the plot to the movie "Wimbledon" but much, much better and actually real. Wasn't she was so relaxed post and pre match and didn't she keep her cool in the face of a pretty partisan crowd? There's not much in life that will keep me from watching match of the day over on BBC, but this did. Fantastic. Bloody well done Radacanu and also well done to Channel 4 for securing the rights so that we as a union of nations could have something to cheer about again!! 
🌞👍

Edit : union of 

See I thought the crowd was pretty fair... lots of support for both players. Admittedly they got behind Fernandez when she was coming back as that was exciting and would add drama. 

There was support for both sure, but the big volume was all with Fernandez when she broke back in the first set (game 3) and everytime she started playing well or held on to her serve it just went through the roof. 

I did notice the distraction noise just at the point of serve was always when Radacanu was on serve. That's always annoyed me in tennis, especially as Radacanu was feeling it a bit pressure wise there (plenty of second ball toss before serving etc.)

Still... Great atmosphere in there. Huge cauldron of a court. So good to have the fans back, so no complaints. 

When I posted this on Wednesday I  had no idea we would witness such a flowering of talent. Utterly amazing display of skill & grit. Wonderful tonic for the country as a whole.

What a kid! Fantastic. I don’t watch much tennis anymore but from what I saw last night it struck me her play has a certain “crispness” to it. 

Yep, she strikes the ball really cleanly, but it's her return of serve that's a 'wow' for me - so forceful and usually top precision too.

Amazing achievement for both players last night with a top quality final.

What a match! Absolute fairytale! So pleased for her!

I think we've finally found a Romanian immigrant that Nigel Garage would be happy to have live next door.

Indeed, I can't remember a better example of such an equally balanced demonstration of raw power play in a womens final, let alone this happening with two lowish ranked teenagers. The main sign of nerves was a slight decline in first service percentage.

Fingers crossed the two of them don't suffer the fate of too many previous prodigies as if they keep going it bodes well for the quality of future tennis.

Good to see a Canadian win the US Open. Though that was a bit of a foregone conclusion 😉

While not being much of a fan of any ball sports I was completely glued to the TV last night to see if the fairy story would reach its rightful conclusion. Both finalists were a joy to watch with their wonderful athleticism and never say die determination. Even when Leylah was staring at almost certain defeat she could still raise a smile, and at the end shaking hands over the net wasn’t enough and Emma went into her opponent’s court to have what seemed like a totally genuine hug. Still friends.

Despite wanting the “rightful conclusion” I spent most of the time wishing they could both win. Neither deserved to lose and the old guard must be quaking in their shoes.

As to the quality of the tennis, I’m no judge but mostly it looked brilliant to me, though I was left wondering how much difference Leylah’s unreliable first serve made to the final result.

Well more of a Canadian immigrant with Chinese and Romanian parents. All this jingoism is nauseating. As are the posturings of the brexiters and racists like farage.
I'm very pleased for her. She seems a very nice sort of (international) person. And jolly good at tennis. So enjoy watching her play.

I've nothing against jingoism in sport; it is where it belongs when in the right spirit. Particularly good when it is also a celebration of our multiculturalisn and of immigration. Like Super Saturday in 2012.

Agree - sports the place for waving flags, even upside down ones.

The current crop of young british sportspeople continue to impress with there athletic prowess, intelligence and morality.

A great performance from both and a welcome lack of grunting.

Agreed - it was a really high quality and entertaining match, both players able to really looking to move their opponent around the court, but also able to return the ball, with interest, when they got there. 

Obviously I'm biased, but I thought it was the right result , Raducanu was just a little more aggressive, especially in her first return shot of her service games and (although I can't find the stats to see if I'm right) it felt to me like more unforced errors crept into Fernandez's game, especially in the second set. 

The bit of controversy re. the stoppage to patch up Raducanu's leg is what every final needs, adds a bit of drama?! 

I can see why Fernandez felt aggrieved as she'd just won a few important points but in retrospect I'm sure she'll not be too angry, she was already a set and 4 games down by then....

Hope to see them play each other again in the future, especially if Raducanu wins again!

I think Fernandez made a mistake making a fuss there which ended up rattling herself more than Raducanu. Also, not sure what she expected the ref to do - force her to play on with blood streaming down her leg?

Alan

Maybe that's major tournament inexperience. I though stemming any bleed was a standard requirement. The real US Open scandal around court drama (and for tennis in general) for me is putting up with Djocovic's anger tantrums.

She said in her post match press conference that she was unaware of the rules at the time, and in the heat of the moment it all got very, well... heated. 

Completely understandable for someone in their first grand slam final (or any for that matter), clinging on to a slim chance of a comeback. 

Interestingly in some of the american online papers they were more than sympathetic towards her attitude, as if ER had almost purposefully scraped her knee at that moment. 

Just as well Dean Richards isn't on her coaching team !

There are some parallels between Emma's achievement and the Polish winner of the 2020 French Open. I worry that if she achieves a similar follow up year,  a top ten ranking and quarter finals+ in the slams, it will be deemed a "failure" by many.

My reading of the Washington Post, New York Times and Los Angeles Times, to all of which I subscribe, is that both of them have gone down a storm, just as here:

See for example this, from the NYT report:

and this from the LA Times:

great to read.

In fairness, my sources were less reputable, and probably more on the DM version of US journalism, creating a story rather than reporting it, straight after a very emotional match.

Yes indeed. Seems like she has a good team around her though - thankfully no Dean Richards  - which will help her stay grounded. 

Yes I thought that at the time!  There was no way she could play whilst actively bleeding, what would have happened if she or Fernandez had slipped on the blood?!?   They can't let a bleeding person play on, them's the rules.

As other have said though, apparently Fernandez hadn't clocked the "seriousness" of the injury, (which does seem a little sus give that it was a stream of blood right down her leg and that whilst she was remonstrating to the umpire she was pretty close).  As it happens Raducanu didn't want to stop either!

Still, I'm not complaining, added a bit of drama to the closing minutes!

Tell you what was funny, just before she won I said "Go on, just f*cking ace her and win it" then it brought up a stat showing she'd only  served three aces all match and there followed a long discussion about how "she'll not ace her, she's gonna have to win the point etc..." and then she aces her to win the title.  Bloody brilliant!

The real scandal was the pre-match interview moment before going on court. Totally uncalled for in my opinion!

Utterly. Stupid and pointless. Since when are pre match (directly pre-match) interviews conducted with any sportspeople, even snooker players, as they are just about to start?  They just need to be left to get in their zones.

That would have really annoyed me... incredibly unfair for the focus of a player.... but we recorded it and watched almost live so got to skip all the build-up guff to the actual start of the match.