Canadian 19-year-old left-hander Leylah Fernandez advanced to the US Open semifinals on Tuesday by defeating Ukraine's fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
Fernandez, ranked 73rd, will play her first Grand Slam semifinal against the winner of a later match between No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Czech eighth seed Barbora Krejcikova, the reigning French Open champion.
It was yet another upset win for Fernandez, whose father is Ecuadorian and mother has Filipino roots, but hardly a shock considering she had already knocked out 4-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the third round and 3-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 semifinals 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. — With a report from Reuters
Agence France-Presse
