There was only one glass slipper

The most improbable major pro tennis tournament final round in history took place yesterday at the U.S. Open. It was the women's championship match between Emma Raducanu of England (right) and Leyla Fernandez of Canada. Raducanu, who had to survive the qualifying rounds even to play in the main draw, won 20 sets in a row, without so much as a tiebreaker, and took the top prize of $2.5 million. No qualifier had ever before reached the finals in a major tournament. 

Raducanu is 18 years old and came into New York ranked no. 150 in the world. She prevailed, 6-4, 6-3, over a worthy opponent, unseeded and ranked no. 73, who defeated three of the five top-ranked players to reach the finals. Fernandez, who turned 19 on Monday, has to settle for $1.25 million. A confident sort, she said she'll be back to win "the right trophy." She also had some kind words for the New York crowd regarding 9/11.

If you watched the championship match and didn't get at least a little misty by the end, you must not be a tennis fan. Or a parent. I still can't believe what I saw over the last week or two.

Today the men will play for their title, but it will be nowhere near as crazy a scene. Quite the opposite: It's the no. 1 player in the world, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, against the no. 2 seed, Daniil Medvedev of Russia. If the Djoker wins, he has a calendar "grand slam" and more major titles than any other man in modern times. As historic as that would be, it would be a snooze compared to the women's tourney, which was a real screamer. Just wow.