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sports Diamars 7 september 2021

‘Happy-go-lucky’ teen Fernandez upsets Kerber at US Open

(AP) — Leylah Fernandez with the help of 24 aces.
is a self-described “happy-
go-lucky girl” having the “At some point, age is just a
time of her life at Flushing number,” Auger-Aliassime
Meadows, raising her fists, when asked about Alcaraz.
pumping her arms and ril- “He already feels like a player
ing up crowds while beat- that is established.”
ing two past U.S. Open
champions to reach her The 55th-ranked Alcaraz got
first Grand Slam quarter- past No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas
final. in his previous match and is
the youngest player with two
A day before her 19th birth- five-set Grand Slam wins in a
day, the unseeded left-hander row since Michael Chang was
from Canada grabbed the 16 at the 1988 U.S. Open.
last five games to eliminate
2016 title winner Angelique There’s yet another 18-year-
Kerber 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 on old in fourth-round action
Sunday, demonstrating that Monday: Emma Raducanu
an earlier upset of defending of Britain, who plays Shelby
champion Naomi Osaka was Rogers of the U.S.
certainly no fluke.
Ask Fernandez for the secret
With grit and guile, plus a to her success, and she re- watch movies, go past your Kerber, used to reach No. 1 women’s matchup Tuesday
veteran’s poise in the face peatedly mentions two fac- bedtime.” in the rankings and claim will be No. 2 Aryna Sabalen-
of big deficits against much tors. One is being sure to three Grand Slam titles. ka against 2021 French Open
more accomplished oppo- enjoy her time on court. The Just as against Osaka in Ar- champion Barbora Kre-
nents, Fernandez is display- other is support of family, be- thur Ashe Stadium two nights Kerber is 33 and has been jcikova, who beat two-time
ing strokes and a demeanor cause her father, who is from earlier, Fernandez dropped playing well enough lately to Grand Slam champ Garbiñe
that left Kerber offering this Ecuador, her mother, who is the opening set against Ker- get to the Wimbledon semi- Muguruza 6-3, 7-6 (4) after
assessment: “She can go re- Filipino Canadian, and her ber in Louis Armstrong Sta- finals in July, but instead of taking a late medical timeout
ally far in the next few years.” sisters “have definitely kept dium, which was so full that that experience paying off, and needing help to leave the
the joy for me.” would-be spectators were be- Fernandez figured the age court when the topsy-turvy
How about over the next ing turned away at the doors. difference worked in her fa- match ended.
week? She credits Dad — who vor as the contest stretched
coaches her and has been of- And just as against Osaka, past two hours. Fernandez and Alcaraz are
There’s no time like the pres- fering instructions in daily Fernandez trailed in the sec- among several fresh faces
ent for the teens in tennis: phone calls while back home, ond set: Kerber led by a break “I was honestly tired in the making moves at this most
Also into the quarterfinals taking care of a younger sib- at 4-2. third set,” Fernandez ac- tumultuous of U.S. Opens,
with a win Sunday was Car- ling — and Mom — who is knowledged. “But with that where the question at the
los Alcaraz, an 18-year-old leading the cheers with other Both times, the 73rd-ranked thought, I was telling myself, start of each day has become,
from Spain who became the family members and Fernan- Fernandez managed to get like, ‘If I’m tired, she must be “Who will pull off a sur-
youngest man to get that far dez’s fitness trainer in court- folks in the seats on her side, exhausted.’” prise?” — and there tend to
at the U.S. Open since 1963 side seats — with teaching a exulting with every of her on- be multiple answers by each
by outlasting his 32-year-old valuable lesson that has noth- the-run, impossible-angle Still, in the last set, Kerber night.
foe, 141st-ranked qualifier ing to do with tennis. groundstrokes that added up held a break point with a
Peter Gojowczyk of Germa- to a 45-28 edge in winners. chance to go up 3-1. Fernan- Consider Botic van de Zan-
ny, 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. They made sure to empha- dez erased that chance with a dschulp also part of Sunday’s
Alcaraz now plays No. 12 size, Fernandez said, that Fernandez redirects op- cross-court forehand winner. group. He’s a 25-year-old
seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, “you can’t take things too ponent’s shots swiftly and Kerber wouldn’t claim an- Dutchman ranked 117th
a 21-year-old from Cana- seriously, you’ve got to be seemingly with ease, some- other game. who became just the third
da who reached his second mature but at the same time times dropping to a knee near male qualifier to get to the
straight major quarterfinal by just be a kid, let loose, have the baseline to get the proper When it ended, Fernandez quarterfinals at Flushing
defeating Frances Tiafoe of fun, eat chocolate when you leverage. That’s a very similar lifted her arms, then leaned Meadows since the Open era
the U.S. 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-4 want to, and just have fun, style to the one another lefty, forward to put her hands on began in 1968.
her knees and smiled. She
stood and patted her chest As it is, only nine seeded men
with her palm, while Ker- made it to Week 2, the fewest
ber walked around the net at the U.S. Open since 2005,
to offer a clasp of hands and and van de Zandschulp re-
an arm around Fernandez’s duced the total by one with a
shoulders. 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1 victory
over No. 11 Diego Schwartz-
“I remember the feeling re- man in 4 hours, 20 minutes.
ally well,” Kerber said when
asked about playing with the Next for van de Zandschulp
sort of loose-grip freedom comes No. 2 Daniil Medve-
Fernandez displays. “I mean dev, while Alcaraz will go up
it’s (a) few years ago. But of against No. 12 Felix Auger-
course, I mean, she has no Aliassime or Frances Tiafoe.
pressure.” “Before the tournament,”
van de Zandschulp observed,
Now Fernandez, who only “no one expected me to reach
once had been as far as the the quarterfinals here.”
third round at a major tour-
nament until now, will meet Seems fair. And applies to
No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina players such as Fernandez
in the quarterfinals. Another and Alcaraz, too.