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NEW YORK — Raising her close fist overhead to observe changeable aft shot, 18-year-old Leylah Fernandez demonstrated that her upset of defending champion Naomi Osaka astatine the U.S. Open was surely nary fluke by beating different past rubric victor astatine Flushing Meadows.
With grit and guile, and a veteran’s poise successful the look of a large shortage against a overmuch much accomplished opponent, the unseeded Fernandez grabbed the past 5 games to bushed 2016 champion Angelique Kerber 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 successful the 4th circular Sunday successful Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“At the extremity it, was conscionable two, 3 points which determine the match,” the 16th-seeded Kerber said. “She took it successful her hands.”
Just similar against Osaka successful Arthur Ashe Stadium 2 nights earlier, Fernandez dropped the opening set. Just similar against Osaka, Fernandez trailed successful the 2nd set, excessively — this time, Kerber led by a interruption astatine 4-2.
But for the 2nd lucifer successful a enactment connected a large court, the 73rd-ranked Canadian got the assemblage connected her side, exulting each clip she deed 1 of her on-the-run, impossible-angle groundstrokes. She’d pump a fist. She’d windmill her arms. And she got to bash truthful repeatedly, ending up with a 45-28 borderline successful winners.
How does Fernandez stay dependable successful these choky matches against foes who’ve been done these sorts of moments overmuch much than she has?
“I honestly don’t know,” Fernandez said. “I conscionable effort to usage each my grooming from backmost home. They told maine to instrumentality it constituent by constituent and that’s what I tried to absorption on. I was gladsome I was capable to execute it.”
Fernandez is simply a left-hander who redirects opponent’s shots swiftly and seemingly with ease, sometimes dropping to a genu adjacent the baseline to get the due leverage. That’s a precise akin benignant to the 1 Kerber utilized to scope No. 1 successful the rankings and assertion 3 Grand Slam titles.
“She’s ever … enjoying her tennis retired there,” Kerber said. “I deliberation she tin spell truly acold successful the adjacent fewer years.”
Kerber would know. She has won much matches astatine the U.S. Open — and astatine each Grand Slam tournaments — than immoderate different pistillate successful the draw. She is 33 and has been playing good capable to get to the Wimbledon semifinals successful July.
But she could not enactment with Fernandez and seemed bothered by it, looking implicit astatine her impermanent container with arms dispersed isolated portion muttering thing successful the last game.
It wasn’t overmuch earlier successful the lucifer that she seemed to beryllium steadying herself and acceptable to propulsion Fernandez successful the 3rd set. Indeed, Kerber held a interruption constituent with a accidental to spell up 3-1, but Fernandez erased that accidental with a cross-court forehand winner.
Kerber wouldn’t assertion different game.
She tried to marque a last basal erstwhile Fernandez served for the victory. Kerber again got to interruption point, but Fernandez delivered an on-the-run forehand victor get to deuce. A corner-to-corner backhand that someway extended a constituent earlier Kerber missed created a lucifer point. And Kerber’s backhand into the nett ended it.
Fernandez raised some arms, past leaned guardant with her hands connected her knees and smiled. She stood and patted her thorax with her palm, portion Kerber walked astir the nett to connection a clasp of hands and an limb astir Fernandez’s shoulders.
Now Fernandez, who lone erstwhile had been arsenic acold arsenic the 3rd circular astatine a large tourney until now, volition conscionable No. 5 effect Elina Svitolina successful the quarterfinals.
“Hopefully,” Fernandez told the Armstrong crowd, “you guys volition each beryllium determination cheering maine on, and we’ll spot however it goes.”
Fernandez is among respective caller faces making moves astatine this astir tumultuous of U.S. Opens, wherever the question astatine the commencement of each time has become, “Who volition propulsion disconnected a surprise?” — and determination thin to beryllium aggregate answers by each night.
Consider Botic van de Zandschulp portion of Sunday’s group. He’s a 25-year-old Dutchman ranked 117th who became conscionable the 3rd antheral qualifier to get to the quarterfinals astatine Flushing Meadows since the Open epoch began successful 1968.
As it is, lone 9 seeded men made it to Week 2, the fewest astatine the U.S. Open since 2005, and van de Zandschulp reduced the full by 1 with a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1 triumph implicit No. 11 Diego Schwartzman successful 4 hours, 20 minutes.
“Before the tournament,” van de Zandschulp observed, “no 1 expected maine to scope the quarterfinals here.”
Seems fair.
After all, helium had a 2-3 vocation grounds successful Grand Slam matches until this tournament. And helium was capable of an chartless quantity that Schwartzman watched immoderate videos of aged matches to get a consciousness of what to anticipate.
Even that didn’t work.
“I was reasoning helium was trying to play aggressive, trying to bash winners. It was a small spot different. He was doing the slices, passing shots,” said Schwartzman, a semifinalist astatine past year’s French Open. “The premix that helium did, it was working.”
Now comes a pugnacious trial against No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, a two-time large finalist who moved connected — arsenic expected — by beating Dan Evans 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
The different men’s fourth-round matchups aboriginal Sunday were 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz — who defeated No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas connected Friday — against qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, and No. 12 Felix-Auger Aliassime against Frances Tiafoe.
For the women, it was No. 2 effect Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 15 Elise Mertens, and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza vs. 2021 French Open champ Barbora Krejcikova.
English (US) ·