In the aftermath of his 19th birthday, Fernandez presented the game that could not be more mature in the first round. Very calm even if she struggled to put her first ball in the square in the service, the Quebecer in particular annoyed Svitolina on many occasions with her judicious climbs to the net.
Fernandez was also patient in the few long exchanges of the round. She was rewarded in the sixth game when she made the only break after one of these duels to finish.
Already loudly applauded by the audience of the Arthur-Ashe stadium, who seems to have adopted her since no American has reached the quarter-finals, she allowed herself a few arm gestures to encourage him to give her more energy again.
But after losing the first round, Svitolina reminded Fernandez why she was the 5th racket in the world.
Much more decisive, the Ukrainian managed two breakages against her rival, who suddenly could not multiply the winning blows as she had done in the first round. Svitolina even allowed himself to make the second break by going to put into play the cushioning that had served Fernandez so well since the start of the tournament.
Svitolina pulled off the second set after a sudden resurgence of life from Fernandez, who broke his opponent’s serve before finally giving in after letting three valuable break points slip away at 5-3.
The end of the heat, however, seemed to give new impetus to the Canadian, who resumed her good habits at the start of the third. Fernandez broke Svitolina’s serve early in the set to make it 3-1.
The Ukrainian herself managed a breakage immediately, but Fernandez responded with the same medicine. Svitolina climbed from 5-2 to 5-5. The two players fought hard, giving rise to long exchanges of about twenty blows.
Leylah Fernandez following her US Open quarterfinal victory.
Photo : afp via getty images / KENA BETANCUR
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The match ended in a tiebreaker, the suspense lasted until the very end, but the Canadian had the last word after 2 h 24 min of play. She collapsed to the ground in relief. after realizing that she had just eliminated No. 5.
I am very fortunate to have the support of my family who are here, said Fernandez on the pitch after his victory. They are both so excited and so serious at the same time.
After every game, they tell me to savor what I’m going through, and then to start over and keep working hard.
When the interviewer in the field asked her what was in the Canadian diet that explains so much success, also referring to Félix Auger-Aliassime, Fernandez replied: I’d say it’s maple syrup, she said, before laughing heartily. He’s very good in Canada.
