DippyDon wrote:
Plum wrote:
Re: Raducanu's US Open win - I don't follow many sports, and Tennis is included in that, but I hear or read enough about them that I'm usually at least familiar with the names of the top players in many sports, and those who regularly reach later stages, etc. And, again, that includes Tennis.
I've just been looking at Raducanu's route and I must admit I've not really heard of any of the players she beat along the way. And a look at the seedings seems to suggest none were in the Top 10 at the time. Did the draw open up for her or something? Was it a bit like the Leicester season were all the top ones were off it all at the same time? As I see even in the final she was playing a fellow teen and 'underdog' who, even now, has never been higher than 17. Looking at who she beat, they seem to be the kind of higher ranked seeds I've heard of - Osaka, Kerber, Svitolina... Was Raducanu in the easier side of the draw, or did the top seeds like that get knocked out before she was due to play them or something?
IIRC it was right in the middle of the pandemic so quite possibly the bigger names just didn't enter
It was certainly during the pandemic, yeah.
I guess that's just the beauty of cup / knockout tournaments like that, compared to a league format - a draw 'opening up', or just get a favourable draw each round, and you don't even have to play, let alone beat, any of the higher ranked players / teams en route. She was still obviously beating players ranked much higher than her, so still 'upset' wins, of course. Just doesn't seem to have had to play any of the ones you'd expect to have to beat at some stage if you want to win something like the US Open.