CANADA’S Leylah Fernandez pulled off a thrilling three-set win to end defending champion Naomi Osaka’s title reign in the US Open on Saturday morning (Manila time), in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The 18-year-old Canada-based player, who has Filipino and Ecuadorian roots, came back from a set down, 6-7, 7-6(2), 6-4, to defeat the world No. 3.
Despite a slow start, Fernandez powered through the second set, breaking the two-time US Open champ, at 6-6. She was able to sustain her momentum until the last set.
Fernandez is currently at world No. 73 but is expected to move up after the biggest victory of her career.
Naomi Osaka reacts under pressure
Osaka came in with a 16-match winning streak at majors and four career trophies, all on hard courts. But this was Osaka’s first Slam tournament since she pulled out of the French Open before the second round to take a mental health break — she also sat out Wimbledon, before participating in the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the cauldron — and maybe the time off was an issue.
Another possible factor in her failure to close things out while serving for the victory against the left-hander Fernandez at 6-5 in the second set: Osaka hadn’t competed since Monday. That’s because the woman she was supposed to meet in the second round, Olga Danilovic, withdrew because she was sick.
Osaka, was quite good down the stretch in the opening set. She grabbed 12 of the last 13 points, including the last nine, with a break at love to go up 6-5, and a hold at love with the help of a pair of aces to end it.
Seemed on track for a similar conclusion in the second set, leading 6-5 and serving. But when she sailed a forehand wide, Fernandez had her first break of the match to make it 6-all.
“I guess I wanted to stay on court a little bit longer. And I wanted to put on a show for everybody here,” Fernandez said. “One hour was not enough for me to be on court.”
And so began Osaka’s downward spiral. She fell behind 5-0 in the ensuing tiebreaker, missing shots and displaying her frustration as she occasionally has done in the past — by flinging her racket.
Chair umpire Alison Hughes did not sanction Osaka then, although later a warning was issued for hitting a ball into the stands.
“Honestly, I wasn't focusing on Naomi,” Fernandez said. “I was only focusing on myself and what I needed to do.”
More to the point, Osaka was not at her best. She left the court with a white towel draped over her head after the second set, then sat in her changeover chair in that same block-out-the-world manner, and never really got her game going the rest of the way.
Fernandez certainly had something to do with that, particularly because of her serve.
She won 18 of 19 first-serve points — and never faced a break point — in the third set.
Fernandez's knee-to-the-ground, quick-redirect style at the baseline is reminiscent of another lefty, Angelique Kerber, a three-time Grand Slam champion who won the 2016 U.S. Open.
And who just so happens to be the next opponent for Fernandez.
“I'm going to put on a show like I did tonight,” Fernandez said, “and we’re going to see how it goes.”
As she moves to the fourth round though, another tough challenge awaits as she faces Grand Slam champ Angelique Kerber.
In last year’s New York stint, Fernandez finished at the Round of 64. - with reports from AP
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