Next coup: 19-year-old Fernandez is in the final of the US Open


Next coup
19-year-old Fernandez is in the final of the US Open

Tennis player Leylah Fernandez prevails against Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka. Now the 19-year-old has reached the final of the US Open completely by surprise. Fernandez could meet an even younger opponent there.

The only 19 year old tennis player Leylah Fernandez is completely surprising in the final of the US Open. The Canadian, who had prevailed in the previous rounds against Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka, among others, defeated Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, second in the world rankings, 7: 6 (7: 3), 4: 6, 6: 4 in the semifinals. In the final on Saturday, Fernandez will meet either the 18-year-old British Emma Raducanu or Maria Sakkari from Greece. “It’s years, years, years of hard work and tears and blood and everything. I really wanted to get into the final,” said Fernandez. “I’m happy to be in the final.”

The teenager came under pressure early in the entertaining encounter in New York, lost 12 of the first 14 points and was already 3-0 down after eight minutes. But after this nervous beginning she improved and won the first set in the tiebreaker. Sabalenka, who was seeded in second position, got the break to 5: 4 in the second set and forced the decisive third set. There the young Canadian continued to delight the audience with her lively game and got a break at 4: 2, which Sabalenka immediately countered. Fernandez was not unsettled by this – and later used the first match ball to move into the final.

Fernandez’s possible opponent Raducanu, 150th in the WTA ranking, is the first ever to qualify in the New York semifinals and only the third tennis player outside the top 100 after Billie Jean King in 1979 and Kim Clijsters in 2009 to make it that far.

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