Only four British women have won the US Open singles title since the major event was first established in 1887.
Emma Raducanu was the last to do so, becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title when she defeated Leylah Fernandez in the 2021 US Open final.
She also became the youngest British player in tennis history to win a major title.
“It means so much to have Virginia Wade here and also Tim Henman,” Raducanu said in her on-court speech after triumphing in New York.
“They are British icons and for me to follow in their footsteps gave me the belief I could do it.”
Who were the other British icons to lift the US Open trophy?
Mabel Cahill
Cahill became the first British player to win a Grand Slam outside of Wimbledon when she captured the 1891 US Open title.
Cahill, born in County Kilkenny and representing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, defeated the USA’s Ellen Roosevelt in the 1891 final, 6–4, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3.
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The Irish-born Briton successfully defended her title a year later, beating Elisabeth Moore, 5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2 in the showpiece event.
Cahill also won the US Open Women’s Doubles titles in 1891 and 1892.
Betty Nuthall
Around 38 years after Cahill’s final New York triumph, Betty Nuthall added her name to British US Open folklore.
The Surbiton-born Brit, a former world number four, first appeared in the US Open final in 1927; losing to America’s Helen Wills in straight sets.
Nuthall set the record straight three years later, beating Anna McCune Harper 6-1, 6-4 to claim her first Grand Slam title.
Nuthall also won four Grand Slams in women’s doubles and four majors in mixed doubles.
She won her final Grand Slam in women’s doubles at the 1933 US Open.
Virginia Wade
Wade, a winner of seven major titles across singles and doubles, captured her one and only US Open singles title at the 1968 event.
The British superstar, a former world number two, defeated top seed Billie Jean King in the final, 6-4, 6-2.
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“I wasn’t really having any trouble in these matches,” she said in a 2018 interview with the New York Times. “I was very happy with just getting there.
“And then when I get to the final and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m in the final.’ And then we played after – the men played the semis, and that went on and on and on. And we were running out of daylight.
“And I’m sitting in that dressing room down in Forest Hills, which is still there looking just the same. And I was sitting there thinking, ‘I’ve got to win this match because I may never be in the final again.’ So I decided – I just made the big decision I was going to win it, and I won it.”
“Every match against Billie Jean was quite a challenge,” she continued. “First of all, you knew she was going to come in off of everything. If you hit anything remotely short, she was at the net and she was phenomenal at the net.”
“I was pretty sure I was going to win it, but I also – you know, I knew that it wasn’t the end of the world if I lost.
“So, you know, I just had a pretty good attitude about that. And it was exciting. I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just played out of my mind at that tournament.”
