MANILA – Leylah Fernandez moved closer to completing her Cinderella run in the 2021 US Open women’s singles after defeating Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 in the semifinals in New York City on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines).
The 19-year-old Fernandez, a Canadian with Filipino and Ecuadorian roots, overcame a tough start against Sabalenka to advance to the medal round against either Emma Raducanu or Maria Sakkari.
Sabalenka had a blistering start, leading 4-1 in the first set, but Fernandez answered by winning four of the next five matches to force a tiebreak at 5-5.
The World No. 73 Fernandez capitalized on blunders by World No. 2 Sabalenka in the tie-break match to score 6-3 and complete her come-from-behind set 1 victory.
Fernandez, whose mother has roots from Leyte and Ilocos Norte, was unable to rule the second set, with Sabalenka forcing a decider with a 6-4 score.
She regained her form in the third set, surging to a 4-2 advantage, but Sabalenka used her expertise to dominate the next two matches, tying the set at 4-4.
Errors, however, haunted the 23-year-old Sabalenka anew in the ninth game, as Fernandez built a 5-2 lead before the Filipino-Canadian sealed the win by capitalizing on more miscues of the Belarussian in the 10th game.
This was Fernandez’s fourth consecutive upset victory at the US Open, following wins against defending champion Naomi Osaka and previous champion Angelique Kerber.
Meanwhile, Filipina netter Alex Eala’s US Open Girls singles career came to an end after losing to Switzerland’s Sebastianna Scilipoti, 7-5, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.
Eala is still in the running for the US Open Girls Doubles title, as she and Belgian partner Hanne Vandewinkel face American Elizabeth Coleman and Madison Sieg in Friday’s quarterfinals (3 a.m., Saturday in the Philippines)./PN
