Anada’s happy-go-lucky teen Fernandez upsets Kerber
Leylah Fernandez is lf-described “happy-goy girl” having the time of ife at Flushing Meadows, ng her fists, pumping her s and riling up crowds e beating two past U.S. n champions to reach her Grand Slam quarterfinal. day before her 19th birththe unseeded left-hander Canada grabbed the last games to eliminate 2016 winner Angelique Kerber 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Sunday, demrating that an earlier upset fending champion Naomi a was certainly no fluke. ith grit and guile, plus a an’s poise in the face of big cits against much more mplished opponents, Ferez is displaying strokes and meanor that left Kerber ing this assessment: “She go really far in the next few s.” ow about over the next k? here’s no time like the ent for the teens in tennis: into the quarterfinals with
Germany, 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.
The 55th-ranked Alcaraz got old in fourth-round action Monday: Emma Raducanu of Britfamily,
because her father, who is from Ecuador, her mother, care of a younger sibling — and Mom — who is leading the cheers with other family members and Fernandez’s fitness trainer in courtside seats — with teaching a valuable lesson that has nothing to do with tennis.
They made sure to emphasize, Fernandez said, that “you can’t take things too seriously, you’ve got to be mature but at the same time just be a kid, let loose, have fun, eat chocolate when you want to, and just have fun, watch movies, go past your bedtime.”
Just as against Osaka in Arthur Ashe Stadium two nights earlier, Fernandez dropped the opening set against Kerber in Louis Armstrong Stadium, which was so full that would-be spectators were being turned away at the doors.
And just as against Osaka, Fernandez trailed in the second set: Kerber led by a break at 4-2.
Both times, the 73rd-ranked Fernandez managed to get folks in the seats on her side, exulting with every of her on-the-run, impossible-angle groundstrokes that added up to a 45-28 edge in winners. Fernandez redirects opponent’s shots swiftly and
Slam titles.
Kerber is 33 and has been playing well enough lately to get to the Wimbledon semifinals in July, but instead of that experience paying off, Fernandez figured the age difference worked in her favor as the contest stretched past two hours.
“I was honestly tired in the third set,” Fernandez acknowledged. “But with that thought, I was telling myself, like, ‘If I’m tired, she must be exhausted.’”
Still, in the last set, Kerber held a break point with a chance to go up 3-1. Fernandez erased that chance with a cross-court forehand winner. Kerber wouldn’t claim another game.
When it ended, Fernandez lifted her arms, then leaned forward to put her hands on her knees and smiled. She stood and patted her chest with her palm, while Kerber walked around the net to offer a clasp of hands and an arm around Fernandez’s shoulders.
“I remember the feeling really well,” Kerber said when asked about playing with the sort of loose-grip freedom Fernandez displays. “I mean it’s (a) few years ago. But of course, I matchup Tuesday will be No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka against twotime Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza or 2021 French Open champ Barbora Krejcikova.
Fernandez and Alcaraz are among several fresh faces making moves at this most tumultuous of U.S. Opens, where the question at the start of each day has become, “Who will pull off a surprise?” — and there tend to be multiple answers by each night. Consider Botic van de Zandschulp also part of Sunday’s group. He’s a 25-year-old Dutchman ranked 117th who became just the third male qualifier to get to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows since the Open era began in 1968.
As it is, only nine seeded men made it to Week 2, the fewest at the U.S. Open since 2005, and van de Zandschulp reduced the total by one with a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1 victory over No. 11 Diego Schwartzman in 4 hours, 20 minutes.
Next for van de Zandschulp comes No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, while Alcaraz will go up against No. 12 Felix Auger-aliassime or Frances Tiafoe.