NEW YORK: Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez continued her remarkable US Open run as she beat 2016 champion Angelique Kerber to advance to the quarter-finals.
On the eve of her 19th birthday, Fernandez backed up her win over Naomi Osaka with a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Germany’s Kerber.
She battled back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to force a tie-break and barely let up from then on.
Fernandez will face fifth seed Elina Svitolina for a semi-final spot.
Fernandez doubled over as her victory was confirmed before she was given a standing ovation by a full crowd on Louis Armstrong Stadium. “I was just glad I was having fun on the court,” Fernandez said.
“I have been working hard since the day I started playing tennis and the day I set my mind to being a professional. “I expected that one day my tennis game is going to come through and that I’m going to be on the big stage in front of a big crowd and getting the wins.”
Fernandez is one of three teenagers to have broken through at the US Open, registering victories over four-time Slam champion Osaka and three-time winner Kerber.
Fellow 18-year-olds Emma Raducanu of Britain and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz have also advanced to the fourth round, with Alcaraz taking out third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier in the week.
Born in Montreal, Fernandez was cut from the provincial development program at a young age, with the family moving to Florida to build her and her sister’s careers.
Her father Jorge, a former soccer player who turned professional at 13, learned tennis in order to coach his daughter.
It paid off, with Fernandez winning the 2019 French Open girls singles title and breaking into the top 100 the next year.
Despite being the youngest player in the main draw, she won her first WTA title in Monterrey, Mexico in March, and did not drop a set throughout the week.
She showed her fearlessness against Kerber, hitting 45 winners, and showing total composure to battle her way into the last eight.
