Emma Radocano’s US Open final will be shown live in the UK on Channel 4 | Emma Radukano

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British tennis fans will be able to watch the US Open final for free on Saturday, after Channel 4 struck a last-minute deal with Amazon to broadcast the historic match.

The Grand Slam final, in which British teen Emma Raducano competes against 19-year-old Canadian Leila Fernandez, will begin at 9pm, with pre-match coverage at 8pm. Radocano, 18, is the first British woman to compete in a Grand Slam singles final since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.

After a deal in 2018 said to be worth $40m (£30m), Amazon has the exclusive UK TV rights to the US Open, meaning viewers typically have to get an annual subscription of £79. £1 to watch the match on its main service.

“Emma’s rapid rise to secure a spot in the US Open final is very exciting,” said Ian Katz, Channel 4’s chief content officer. “We are delighted that we have worked with Prime Video and pulled all the stations to air it and I am sure viewers will be delighted with the prospect of watching Emma in the Grand Slam final.”

After Raducanu won the semi-finals, BBC secured the rights to broadcast highlights of the match, but only on Sunday afternoons. The public service broadcaster owns the television rights to the Wimbledon show, which is protected by regulations as a “listed event”, meaning it must be available in the UK on free TV.

Alex Green, managing director of Prime Video Sport Europe, said the company had struck a deal with the broadcaster in order to expand coverage of the historic match, adding that the giant would reinvest its fee from the agreement in British women’s tennis.

“Emma’s journey from qualifying to the US Open final at the age of 18 is a truly magical story for British sport and we believe it is important that we expand our coverage to as many people as possible to support her in this historic moment for women’s tennis,” he said.

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The agreement with Channel 4, which faces privatization after four decades of operating as a state-owned broadcaster, means tennis fans will be able to watch the match on both the channel and Prime Video. The channel, which opened its national headquarters in Leeds earlier this month, is struggling with government efforts to sell it to the highest bidder. Established by the Margaret Thatcher government in 1982, it is an editorially independent broadcaster but has always been state-owned.

In July, the broadcaster’s chief strongly criticized the government’s privatization plans, accusing Oliver Dowden, the culture minister, of failing to provide evidence to support a risky move that could harm audiences and jobs. In a letter to Dowden, Charles Jurassic, who is set to step down in January, said the company had “serious concerns that the consequences would be extremely detrimental, both for the UK’s creative economy and for the selection and breadth of British-made features.” Available to UK audiences.

Conservatives have repeatedly attacked Channel 4, complaining that some of its productions are biased against the party, leading to suspicions of a political motive behind the decision. While the broadcaster does not receive public funding, it is ultimately owned by the government. All profits go to the channel, which commissions all of its programming from independent producers.

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