BIRTHDAY WHIRL
Leylah lives!
The fighting, joyful spirit of Leylah Fernandez will carry on to the U.S. Open semifinals after, for the third straight match, she knocked out a potent seed in three wild sets.
Down went former Open champion Naomi Osaka. Down went former Open champion Angelique Kerber.
And down went Elina Svitolina, the fifth seed and one of the tour’s hottest players, in a third-set tiebreak.
The speedy left-hander from Montreal has become an overnight tennis star. The Canadian Cinderella posted yet another upset, taking out the screeching Ukrainian on Tuesday in a thrilling three-setter 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in 2 ¹/2 hours at raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium.
At 19, she’s now the youngest women’s Open semifinalist since Maria Sharapova did it in 2005. The fans chanted “Ley-lah’’ across the third set. There was no mistaking whom the crowd preferred.
“Thanks to the New York crowd, fighting for me and never giving up on me,’’ Fernandez said after the match. “Thanks to you I was able to push through.’’
The unseeded Fernandez, who celebrated her 19th birthday on Monday, ran the ever consistent 26-year-old Svitolina around the court with her magical lefty angles.
She pounced on Svitolina’s second serves, including a key forehand return-of-service winner in the deciding tiebreak to seize momentum and go up 4-1. Fernandez needed a running forehand winner down the line at 5-5 to set up match point — and Svitolina went long on the next ball.
“It was definitely one of the hardest, not only tennis wise but also mentally and emotionally,’’ Fernandez said. “I got a little bit lucky at 5-5. I’ll take all the luck I can get. This whole few weeks I was able to showcase all the sacrifice I’ve made the past year so that I can get to this point.’’
The Ashe Stadium crowd loved every one of her theatrical gestures, and Fernandez also used her own quickness to retrieve a multitude of tough balls.
Late in the third set, Fernandez pointed her right fist to the sky after scampering in to put away another drop shot. She said she always has savored being on a big stage.
“From a young age I always wanted to be on the first court playing in front of parents,” Fernandez said. “Even in school, apart from presentations in front of the class that I hated, but when I had to do a mini play, sing, dance, I would go out there, have fun. I would enjoy it a lot.’’
Fernandez’s father, who decided not to travel to New York, told his daughter beforehand, “Don’t make it your last match.’’ When Fernandez called him afterward, Fernandez reported with a laugh: “He put me through hell and back with this match. He’s very happy for me.’’
ESPN commentator Jason Goodall talked about the difficulty of playing southpaws, pointing out Svitolina’s pedestrian 29-25 record against lefties.
“Lefties should be illegal,’’ Goodall said.
Well, it’s still illegal for Fernandez to drink for another two years, but not for her to play in the semifinals. The South Florida resident will face Aryna Sabalenka, who easily defeated No. 8 Barbora Krejcikova, 6-1, 6-4, on Tuesday.
The deciding third set was a roller coaster. Fernandez broke Svitolina to go up 3-1, and the Ukranian looked up at her box with a face masked in worry. But she broke Fernandez in the next game to bring it back on serve at 3-2. It didn’t matter. Fernandez roared back showing incredible resilience in the biggest moments and broke Svitolina to go up 5-3 and serve for the match.
Svitolina, who is married to French tennis star Gael Monfils, became a rock and posted another break to make it 5-4 as neither player seemed to want to hold onto her serve. They zoomed into a tiebreaker in which Fernandez charged to a 4-1 lead to hold on.
Regarding the tiebreaker, Fernandez
said she thought to herself Svitolina had to be tired “because we’ve both been working so hard and I’ve been making her move so much, so I have no idea how she’s getting to all these balls.’’
In the first set, Svitolina mustered zero break points, even though Fernandez got fewer than 50 percent of her first serves in play. Fernandez got her first-set break at 4-2. On break point, Fernandez got to a drop shot and hit an angled backhand winner.
At 5-3, 40-40, Fernandez closed out the first with a crosscourt backhand winner. An anxious Svitolina followed that by overhitting a forehand, banging it long.
The second set was a different tale. Svitolina posted two consecutive breaks. Her first serve became a weapon and she finally broke a suddenly shaky Fernandez, who clunked a backhand long on Svitolina’s first break point. Svitolina broke again for a 5-1 lead and held off a charge from Fernandez.
But only for so long. When asked on court what they fed her in Canada, Fernandez replied, “Maple syrup.’’