NEW YORK — Leylah Fernandez has reached the US Open semifinals, one day after turning 19.
The Canadian continued her stunning run through the tournament by upsetting No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
Fernandez won the last two points of the tiebreaker to give her another three-set victory after knocking off past US Open champions Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber in her previous two matches.
After defeating Kerber, Fernandez put her run in perspective, but made it clear that she’s not in awe of the situation.
“I’m not surprised of anything that’s happening right now,” she said. “I’m just glad that it’s happening now and not later in the year.”
Born in Montreal to an Ecuadorian father, Jorge, and Filipino-Canadian mother, Irene, Leylah first fell in love with the sport at age 6. When she did, Jorge was ready to nurture her. Jorge’s approach of “Let go of the past, keep looking forward, keep looking for the next,” shaped how his daughter played the sport, said Rennae Stubbs, an ESPN analyst and former player who has spoken to Fernandez and her family. It’s working well.
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, the No. 8 seed, will face second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the other women’s quarterfinal Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.