Two women of Asian descent meet in historic US Open final

SCREEN CAPTURE

Emma Raducanu, left, and Leylah Fernandez captured the hearts of tennis fans.

The US Open's women's singles final is one for the history books. For the first time, two women of Asian descent will play for tennis' Grand Slam championship.

Leylah Annie Fernandez, a Filipino Canadian, will play Emma Raducanu, representing Great Britain.

The women's singles finals begin at 4 p.m. EDT, Saturday and aired on ESPND. (Check local listings.)

Both players were unranked and virtual unknowns when the tournament began in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. two weeks ago. It is rare to have a Cinderella player in the finals, but to have two Cinderellas? What is a fan to do?

Both Fernandez, 19, and Raducanu, 18,  had to beat older and more experienced players on the way to the finals displaying an amazing amount of confidence and composure as they dispatched their opponents.

The winner of the women's finals match will earn $2.5 million and the runnerup will garner $1.25 million.

As underdogs, both women were crowd favorites at the Arthur Ash Stadium and drew energy from the fans' cheers.

No matter which player prevails, the winner will be of Asian descent, which has special significance this year when Asians are fighting for representation and attacks against Asians in the U.S. Canada and Great Britain have surged because they are being associated with COVID-19.

EDITOR'S NOTE: More commentary, observations, tips and references from an AAPI perspective on Twitter. Follow me @dioknoed.