Emma Raducanu and the battle to avoid joining list of one
Emma Raducanu and the battle to avoid joining list of one
Emma Raducanu's US Open win last year will go down as the biggest underdog story in the history of tennis. But while her journey was standout, shock victories in women's majors are not rare.
One-slam wonders have been a hot topic in women's tennis for many years. Every time a new unlikely champion lifts the trophy in Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon or New York the debate about consistency flares up once more: who will be the one to finally take over the mantle at the top?
It feels particularly relevant at this juncture, not only because Raducanu is returning to New York this week, but because Serena Williams - the most dominant force ever in women's tennis - is enacting her swan song.
Since Williams lifted her last major title, at the Australian Open in 2017, there have been 21 majors played and 14 different winners. So far, only six of those women have another slam to their name. Compare that to just five different champions on the men's side in that time, two being as yet one-time major champions (Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem), and the difference is stark.
If you go back slightly further, to the turn of the century, things even out a little: men's tennis has had four fewer one-time major champions than women's since 2000 (14 to 10). But in the last decade the rate in women's tennis sped up - 10 female one-time champions to three male.
Despite injuries plaguing Raducanu in recent months, including during her preparations for Flushing Meadows, no one is suggesting that Raducanu is one and done.
She is still only 19 and the hope and expectation is that she will win many more majors. But, as her win and Elena Rybakina's surprise Wimbledon title showed last month too, new kids on the block suddenly announcing their arrival on the biggest stages are trending again.
Why no heir-apparent for Williams?
Williams is expected to bow out after New York and, though she has not played a major final in three years, the finality of her exit with no heir-apparent in place is interesting.
Three-time major champion Ash Barty was tipped to be the future, but her retirement earlier this year at just 25 years old left the spot vacant. Naomi Osaka too has shown how dominant she can be on hard courts, winning four major titles between 2018 and 2021, but she is still making her way back from long periods of absences. Current No 1 Iga Swiatek has had eye-catching match-winning runs this year, but is yet to win a major away from the red clay in Paris.
The long list of recent major winners in women's tennis is often cited with a hint of derision. The lack of consistency or stability is seen as a quality deficit, a sign of poor staying power from top female players. There are many other reasons you can point to though.
The unprecedented level of dominance from the Big Three in men's tennis has massively clouded our perspective on what constitutes a 'normal' or healthy trend for the sport, for one. You could also argue that the many winners on the women's tour show the great depth of talent.
Something Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur wishes got more airtime is the fact that the odds of consistency are stacked against the women compared to the men, who play best of five sets at the four majors, which mathematically reduces the likelihood of upsets.
"I just want to say, the greatest players if they didn't have [best of five] you wouldn’t have them winning so many slams," Jabeur told Telegraph Sport of the men's draw. "We know there are a lot of comebacks from two sets down, and it doesn’t mean women playing [first to] two sets don’t give so much effort than the men playing [first to] three. It’s ridiculous to compare this. So I’m just putting it out there: if you count how many times players who have won grand slams when they were two sets behind, they wouldn’t have the same amount."
