On the eve of her 19th birthday, Leylah Fernandez pulled off a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Angelique Kerber after her impressive win against Naomi Osaka in the third round to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time.
Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez squeezes her way through the Women’s Singles round of 16, winning over 2016 US Open champion Angelique Kerber at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinal round.
On the eve of her 19th birthday, the teenager pulled off a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Kerber after her impressive win against Naomi Osaka in the third round to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time.
"I was just glad I was having fun on the court," Fernandez said after the win when asked about her success.
"I have been working hard since the day I started playing tennis and the day I set my mind to being a professional.” She also added.
Kerber, on the other hand, had nothing but admiration and support for the young player, stating that Leylah has had a great start to her career and that she will have a big future ahead of her.
"If she plays like this, consistently plays the whole year, the next tournaments like this, the next rounds, I think she has a great future," Kerber told reporters.
Fernandez is one of the three teenagers to play to show up at the US Open together with 18-year-olds Emma Raducanu of Britain and Carlos Alzcaras of Spain who defeated third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas last week.
Leylah will then face Elina Svitolina, Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, the fifth seed from Ukraine who eliminated two-time major winner Simona Halep with a 6-3, 6-3 record to propel her on her eight Grand Slam quarter-final appearance.
The Fil-Canadian teen entered her first Grand Slam competition at the 2020 Australian Open, but was eliminated in the opening round of the main draw.
However, Fernandez made it to the WTA final at the Mexico Open before eventually losing to champion Heather Watson.
Bouncing back from the 2020 tourneys, Leylah came back strong at the 2021 Monterrey Open last March, as she reached the final without dropping a set, besting Viktorija Golubic en route to the title.
Tags: #tennis, #USOpen, #LeylahFernandez