Fernandez follows father’s advice, fights for her dream

NEW YORK — Leylah Fernandez’s father, Jorge, is also her coach. Before each match, they go over the tactics he thinks she should employ, but he also reminds her to have fun on the tennis court.

Jorge, a former professional soccer player and native of Ecuador, isn’t with his daughter in New York, but he was in her ear as she prepared Tuesday to slay another giant in the U.S. Open women’s field. Two bits of his advice resonated for her.

“Today is your first quarterfinal. Don’t make it your last,” she said he told her by phone. “Fight for your dream.”

Fernandez, who had upset defending U.S. Open champions Naomi Osaka and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in her previous two matches, kept her dream alive with a stunning quarterfinal performance against No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina.

Telling herself to trust her game — she said she chooses a different motivational phrase as a mantra in each match — Fernandez had 25 forehand winners and 42 winners overall in a thrilling 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) victory that put her into her first Grand Slam semifinal.

At the end, after Svitolina returned a serve long, Fernandez sank to her knees on the court. The moment was as exhilarating as she dreamed it would be long ago when she was growing up in Montreal and adopted seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Justine Henin as her idol because they’re both of moderate height — 5 feet 6 — but are driven by big hearts.

“I’ve imagined myself play