Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, reacts after winning a point against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, at the 2021 U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., on Sept. 9.Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Canada’s teen tennis sensation Leylah Annie Fernandez will fight for a U.S. Open title on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Quebecer added to her astonishing Cinderella story in Flushing Meadows by upsetting World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in Thursday’s semi-finals – 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 – to advance to her first Grand Slam final.
Fernandez has a chance to become just the second Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title, following Bianca Andreescu’s U.S. Open victory in 2019.
She will face another teenager, 18-year-old Emma Raducanu of Britain, who is the first-ever qualifier to make a Grand Slam final.
This latest huge win for Montreal-born Fernandez, who arrived in New York ranked No. 73, added to her chain of top-20 upsets at the U.S. Open. In the tournament of a lifetime, Fernandez had already toppled Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, the defending Open champ.
Fernandez shakes hands with Sabalenka after defeating her during the semi-finals.Seth Wenig/The Associated Press
Each victory required the five-foot-six Canadian to fight through wild shifts in momentum. In her own mind – as a youngster swinging her racquet in practice – the Canadian had played out enormous moments just like these, imagining herself in the biggest tournaments.
“That’s years and years of hard work and tears and blood and everything,” is how she described her mental toughness in her post-match interview.
ESPN broadcaster Brad Gilbert, in his pre-match comments, shared an anecdote that summed up the unexpected nature of this Fernandez run in New York. He said if you’d told him before the tournament began that there would be a teenager in the semis, he would have guessed it would be U.S. phenom Coco Gauff. The young woman from Quebec would not have entered his mind.
Sabalenka had been on a roll and was considered problematic to beat. She reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in July. Her first-round victory in New York was a three-setter, but then she didn’t lose another set on her way to the semis. After Osaka and top-seeded Ash Barty were eliminated early, Sabalenka became the Open favourite.
The Belarussian, who stands five-foot-eleven, imposed her will on the young Canadian immediately on Thursday. She bombed serves and crushed big winners, dictating with her power. Fernandez looked out of sorts. In the blink of an eye, the older player had a commanding 4-1 lead.
Sabalenka was in command, and it appeared she might make quick work of Fernandez.
Fernandez returns a shot to Sabalenka.Seth Wenig/The Associated Press
But the teen – fresh off her 19th birthday this week and emboldened by her well-earned string of big wins – did not shrink. She fought back – just as she had when the going got tough against the other more experienced women she faced on this wild ride.
Fernandez held serve, then broke Sabalenka, and held serve again. Suddenly Fernandez was the one delivering aces, and Sabalenka was the one suffering unforced errors.
Fernandez tied the set 4-4, and the noised swelled inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. They shared epic rallies. They yanked the momentum back and forth, playing tug of war with the set and sent it into a tiebreak.
The Canadian stayed steady, while Sabalenka missed many hits. Fernandez pumped her fist tight to her chest in a small show of celebration with each winning shot. When the teenager finally won that tiebreak, she let herself erupt – her arms flung in the air, and she let out a big holler.
Cameras panned to a rare sighting at a major tennis tournament in New York – Canadian fans wearing hockey jerseys. At one point, Canadian basketball legend Steve Nash visited the Fernandez family in her player box.
The teen had no pressure on her shoulders. It all seemed to slide across the court in Sabalenka’s direction. That became glaringly evident when Fernandez took a 3-2 lead in the second set. The player from Belarus sat down in her chair between games and unleashed all her frustrations on her racquet, smashing it on the ground into a twisted mess.
Sabalenka found another gear, earned some valuable points and raised her arms, asking the crowd to get loud for her. Then Fernandez grabbed that momentum right back and threw up her limbs in the same way to entice those raucous fans right back into her corner – done with a coy grin. They obliged.
Many Canadians likely sat at home wishing Fernandez would finish off Sabalenka before the night’s English language Leaders’ Debate was to begin on television,. But the Belarussian fought to keep the night going, stealing the second set.
The third set was also back and forth, each woman making remarkable shots. You got the sense the teen would come out a tremendous winner in everyone’s eyes – and especially back home in Canada – even if she didn’t win. This show was too entertaining, too fiery, too inspired, not to be considered a triumph.
But Sabalenka unravelled, and Fernandez just kept hitting and avoided big mistakes. She slayed another giant, and kept her unbelievable story going.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, ever,” said tennis legend and ESPN commentator Chris Evert on the broadcast, with the crowd yelling at an ear-piercing level.
“Unearthly poise,” is how broadcaster Chris Fowler described Fernandez.
The compelling Canadian tennis action continues at Flushing Meadows on Friday night as Montreal-born Félix Auger-Aliassime will face No. 2 Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Auger-Aliassime, the first Canadian male singles player to appear in the U.S. Open semis, was the junior champion at the Open in 2016 when he was 17. Fellow Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazill’s Luisa Stefani will play in the women’s doubles semifinal Friday against Americans Coco Gauff and Caty McNally.
Seth Wenig/The Associated Press