The final and the route to it
Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open women's singles final against Leylah Fernandez on September 11, 2021. The score was 6–4, 6–3. That final was the concluding match of a run that began before the main draw, in the qualifying competition.
Source [1]Why ten wins were different from seven
The US Open's account identifies Raducanu as the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title. Her route comprised three qualifying wins and seven in the main draw. She won all 20 sets and did not need a tiebreak. The qualifying matches therefore belong in the account of the achievement, even though a standard main-draw title run requires seven victories.
A qualifier earns a main-draw place through a preliminary competition. That is different from receiving a wildcard or entering directly through ranking. The distinction explains the historical first without suggesting that every player in the main draw started with the same number of matches.
This article preserves the 2021 championship result. It does not describe a current ranking, a later title or today's tournament draw. The dated final record is the appropriate source when an older championship headline is encountered again.
Source [2]