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NEW YORK – Even at a time of unprecedented depth on the women’s tennis circuit, where it seems like 20 or so players come to Grand Slams believing they have a legitimate chance at winning the trophy, Leylah Fernandez n ‘should have had no reason to believe she was among them.
After all, the 19-year-old Canadian was only at the start of her career, with no real resume to speak of against top players and no match experience on a stage as big as Arthur Ashe Stadium.
But as the US Open unfolded, the 5ft 6in little Fernandez didn’t just take on the reputation of a giant killer. Turns out his game is larger than life – he carried it to a US Open title win.
“Thanks to the New York crowd. Thanks to you, I was able to win,” Fernandez said in an interview on the field.
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Ranked outside the top 70 at the start of this tournament, Fernandez continued one of the most impressive runs to a Grand Slam final in recent memory, supporting his previous wins over two other top 5 players by beating the No.2 World Aryna Sabalenka Thursday night 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. She will play for the championship on Saturday against 18-year-old British qualifier Emma Raducanu, marking the first time in history that two unranked women will play for a major title.
“I think one word that really stuck with ‘magic’ to me because not only is my run really good, but also the way I’m playing right now,” Fernandez said. “I’m just having fun, I’m trying to produce something for the audience. I’m glad whatever I do on the court the fans love it and I love it too. We ‘I’ll say that’ is magic. “
When Fernandez arrived in New York, she had just one career victory over a Top 10 player, beating Belinda Bencic in a tag team event in February 2020. Now, in the span of seven days Barely, she knocked out Sabalenka, No.3 Naomi Osaka, No.5 Elina Svitolina and three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber – all in three-set epics where she was the most confident and composed player. in critical time.
If Fernandez won the title, it would be reminiscent of Jelena Ostapenko’s victory at Roland Garros in 2017, but even more surprising and extraordinary given the quality and variety of players she had to face round after round.
Unlike those wins earlier in the tournament, however, Fernandez didn’t have to play spectacular and spellbinding tennis to beat Sabalenka. Instead, she had to change gears and stay strong enough to test the patience and nerve of the hard-hitting Belarusian, who succeeded with 52 unforced errors.
“I would say I destroyed myself,” Sabalenka said.
Some of Sabalenka’s shots were so wild at the end that it seemed like all Fernandez had to do was keep the ball on the pitch. And that’s exactly what she did after Sabalenka, serving to stay in the match, committed two double faults in a row to give her three match points. After Fernandez put a simple backhand return into play, Sabalenka whipped the ball wildly with a forehand that sailed a foot long. Fernandez fell to her knees in the victory, becoming the youngest major finalist since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004.
Sabalenka, 23, in the midst of her best year as a professional, entered the semifinals as the favorite to win the title, but still wonders if her foolproof style would ultimately hold up. at the end of a Grand Slam when nerves are exhausted and points are precious.
For Sabalenka, facing a player as inexperienced as Fernandez was a huge opportunity – and one she looked ready to grab from the start when her power on the ground pushed Fernandez into corners and produced enough winners for a 4-1 lead. .
“She started off incredibly well at the start,” Fernandez said. “But I was able to stay patient, fight for every point.”
As Fernandez adjusted to the rhythm of his opponent’s shots and began to use it to change the direction of the ball, errors started to occur on Sabalenka’s racket and the game started to tighten.
Then for Sabalenka it quickly fell apart. After winning the first two points of the first set tiebreaker, Sabalenka let things fly with a mess of errors, including two second serves comebacks that never found the ground, a double fault , a short forehand that she buried in the net, a standard forehand from the middle of the court that sailed a long time and a clumsy over the service line that she arched well.
“That’s what we call pressure, and that’s why I’m a little disappointed with this game because I had a lot of opportunities and I didn’t use them,” said Sabalenka. “That’s life. If you don’t use your opportunities, someone else will.
Although he continued to spray the ball throughout the second set and at times appearing to be on the verge of letting the game completely collapse, Sabalenka managed to break Fernandez at the end of the second set and immediately held the serve for send it in a third.
But ultimately, Sabalenka’s desire to go for big shots – and the frequency with which they missed – forced her to catch up in the third set, from an early break on serve. But it never looked like his game was going to stay strong long enough for the blame to fall on Fernandez.
“At the start of the tournament I was not in good shape, I was not playing well the previous tournament, I was not playing well in training and I had no expectations so I was just playing,” said Sabalenka. “Maybe today I should have done the same thing and seen what happens and because of the waiting and all this pressure, maybe I was trying to get her to move and to be. reconcile lines and (make) mistakes Maybe I need to go back and start over from the simple game.
But maybe Fernandez had something to do with it too. At this US Open, it looks like Fernandez can’t do anything wrong. At the very least, she’s playing like it’s what she believes – and so far she’s been right.
“It helped me open my eyes to the fact that I have no limit to my potential, that I can play three sets against these players, I can play against these top players and I can win against these top players.” , she said. “I’m extremely proud of the way I fought for every point. My mental toughness has been a huge plus for me. I’m just extremely happy with what I’ve accomplished this week.”
Follow Dan Wolken on Twitter @DanWolken
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US Open: Leylah Fernandez stuns Aryna Sabalenka and qualifies for final
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