Leylah Fernandez fired up fans and left a massive footprint on the 2021 US Open draw.
A fearless Fernandez upset two ex-champions—defending champion Naomi Osaka and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber—and toppled three Top-5 players en route to the final, including her riveting 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) win over fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina and 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 upset of second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.
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Eighteen-year-old Emma Raducanu stopped the 19-year-old Fernandez in the first all-teenage US Open final since the 1999 US Open.
The 14th-seeded Fernandez hopes to put her best foot foward after a painful and short summer season. Fernandez suffered a stress fracture in her foot that has limited her to just three matches since her run the Roland Garros quarterfinals last June.
The perpetually-positive Canadian says struggle is part of the pro journey and has taught her lessons beyond tennis.
“I’m happy with the way that I’ve been performing. It’s not, like, what I’ve imagined obviously,” Fernandez said. “I thought everything was going to be perfect. At the same time I knew there were going to be a few bumps in the road and I was just going to have to find solutions, go through those tough moments.
“I think it was a great learning experience to not only learn about my tennis game, which I’m constantly doing, but also learn about myself, like what are things that I enjoy doing, what are the things that has helped me in those moments, trying to keep getting better and better as a person and enjoying my time on tour.”
The left-handed Fernandez opens against Oceane Dodin and could put to the test in round two vs. dangerous Liudmila Samsonova. No. 23-seeded Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 Roland Garros singles and doubles champion, could be waiting for Fernandez in round three with the winner potentially facing Serena Williams in the fourth round.
“I think I’m just so excited, like, knowing that I may potentially meet Serena here in New York. It could be a dream come true for me,” Fernandez said. “You always dream to play against the legends, the greatest of all time players that you’ve admired for so long. You always wanted to do that. It doesn’t matter the result, but you feel like you want to have that time with her on court, not just in practice, but in competition.
“Other than that, like, my game? I think it has improved a lot. We’ve always tried to improve my game every year, see what I can work on, see what I…
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