The US Open is a major tennis tournament featuring professional players from different continents.
First won by Arthur Ashe in 1968, the tournament has evolved, getting increasingly intriguing as the players battle it out with millions of fans eagerly watching their favourite players.
Punters, too, are enthusiastic about the US Open as it presents exciting betting possibilities, especially with savoury odds from top bookmakers like Bet365 Canada app.
Indeed the US Open trophy is not respecter of age, with the youngest person in history to win it being a 16-year-old teenager.
This article contains a list of five of the youngest female players to have won this tournament.
1. Tracy Austin – 16 years 8 months and 29 days (1979)
Tracy Austin won the 1979 US Open Singles at just 16 years, pulling an upset on the course to victory and setting a record that is still yet to be broken.
Coming on the back of a semi-final loss to Navratilova at Wimbledon a few months earlier, Tracy put behind the agony of defeat and coasted her way to victory.
Seeded third in the competition, she lost only one of her first five rounds, winning in straight sets. Going forward, she revenged her semi-final loss to Navratilova at Wimbledon by beating her here in the semi-finals in a remarkable 7-5, 7-5 victory.
She topped it off by beating the then No.1 Chris Evert, 6-4, 6-3 in the finals, doing just enough to win the trophy.
Two years later, Tracy Austin replicated her victory, winning the 1981 US Open. She retired earlier than expected due to injuries but called it quits with 35 professional titles bagged.
2. Martina Hingis – 16 years 11 months 8 days (1997)
In the 1990s, the women’s tennis sphere had many greats unwilling to relinquish power anytime soon. No one expected the rapid rise of the Swiss star Martina Hingis who won all five of her major trophies before turning 19.
The year 1997 was a memorable one for Hingis, becoming the women’s World No. 1. She began the year with a victory in a Sydney warm-up tournament, then went on to win the Australia Open Singles and Australian Open Doubles some months later.
Amidst other titles that year, she also won the US Open Singles at just 16 years, defeating Venus Williams 6-0, 6-4 in the finals.
Hingis won a total of 43 titles in her career before retiring in 2007.
3. Monica Seles – 17 years 9 months 5 days (1991)
Eight of Monica Seles’ ten Grand Slam victories came before she turned 20 years old, contributing to her incredibly successful tennis career.
At age 16, Seles, who was born in Yugoslavia, won the French Open and went on to win the US Open a year later, still holding the record for the third-youngest player to win the US Open. She defeated the legend Navratilova, 7-6, 6,1.
Seles experienced a brief setback in her career when she got stabbed fan an obsessed fan of her opponent, Magdalena Maleeva, during an April 30, 1993 match. However, she won 53 singles titles and 6 doubles titles during her career and officially retired in 2008.
4. Serena Williams – 17 years 11 months
At just a month shy of her 18th birthday, the 1999 US Open saw the start of a trophy-laden career for Serena Williams.
Back then, she was still an upcoming tennis player who emerged unto the scene alongside her older sister Venus Williams. However, she shocked the world in that year’s US Open, defeating Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-6, to claim the title.
Since then, she has established herself as the Women’s Wolrd No. 1, spending a total of 319 wins in that capacity. Her trophy cabinet is fully stacked with 73 Singles titles and 23 Doubles titles.
5. Emma Raducanu – 18 years 10 months
In 2021, British teenage sensation Emma Raducanu won the US Open, creating different records in the process.
Raducanu showcased a high level of maturity and determination in this tournament, brushing aside notable names and ultimately defeating Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 6-3, to win the title.
Prior to winning the US Open, Raducanu was rated 150th in the world. She also ended a 44-year wait for a British woman to win a Grand Slam in tennis since Virginia Wade last won it in 1968.
