Fearless Fernandez holds nerve to reach US Open semi-finals

Thursday, 9 September 2021 01:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Leylah Fernandez

NEW YORK (REUTERS): Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez continued her US Open dream run on Tuesday by storming into her first Grand Slam semi-final with a battling 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) win over Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina.

It was yet another upset win for Fernandez but hardly a shock considering she had already knocked out four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the third round and three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber in the fourth.

If there was any lingering worry that the fearless Canadian would buckle under the mounting pressure, Fernandez removed it by prevailing in a nerve-jangling third set tiebreak 7-5 to clinch a spot in the last four.

Rated one of the best players yet to win a major, Svitolina might have fancied her chances of returning to the US Open semi-finals against a 73rd ranked teen. But Fernandez, who celebrated her 19th birthday on Monday, has shown that she is no ordinary teenager after registering a string of upsets that have made her a Flushing Meadows darling.

Fernandez could be joined in the last four by compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime, who takes on 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz later on Tuesday.

In a US Open hit by a number of big-name withdrawals, young talents such as Fernandez and 18-year-old Briton Emma Raducanu have stepped up to grab the spotlight in the absence of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams.