Naomi Osaka, the defending ladies’s singles champion, was upset 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4, within the third spherical of the U.S. Open on Friday evening by Leylah Annie Fernandez, an unseeded 18-year-old from Canada.
The 73rd-ranked Fernandez, a fast and dynamic left-hander, had by no means confronted Osaka, however she didn’t seem intimidated, clenching her fist after successful key factors and infrequently dictating play along with her topspin forehand.
It was a memorable night for youngsters in Arthur Ashe Stadium. In the previous match, Carlos Alcaraz, a dynamic Spanish 18-year-old, eradicated the No. 3 males’s seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in a momentum-shifting thriller that got here all the way down to a fifth-set tiebreaker. That was the ultimate match of the day session and when the sector was cleared and the night-session crowd took their seats, Fernandez adopted Alcaraz’s lead, rallying to defeat the third-seeded Osaka.
The upset got here on the identical courtroom the place Osaka grew to become a world star by shocking Serena Williams to win the 2018 U.S. Open. Osaka has since gained three extra Grand Slam singles titles, together with final yr’s Open.
Osaka broke Fernandez’s serve at 5-5 within the second set with a backhand winner after which served for the match. She had not confronted even a break level at that stage however was unable to shut out the victory. Fernandez went on to win the primary 5 factors of the following tiebreaker, prompting Osaka to hurl her racket to the courtroom. Fernandez then evened the match at one-set apiece.
“I guess I wanted to stay on the court a little bit longer, and I wanted to put on a show for everybody here,” Fernandez stated in her post-match interview. “One hour was just not enough for me on court.”
Fernandez rapidly took the lead within the third set by breaking Osaka’s serve once more within the opening recreation and although Osaka started to search out her vary in her personal service video games, she couldn’t resolve Fernandez’s slower left-handed serve. Osaka didn’t disguise her frustration. After Fernandez hit a net-cord winner within the second recreation of the ultimate set to go up 40-15, Osaka took maintain of the ball and smacked it excessive into the stands, receiving a code-violation for ball abuse.
Fernandez would face no break factors on her serve within the remaining set and when it got here time to serve for probably the most vital victory of her profession, she held at love. At 30-0, she hit a terrific backhand drop shot winner and on her first match level, Osaka misjudged a forehand and hit it broad.
Arms up and smiling, Fernandez jogged ahead to the web for the handshake. “From the very beginning, right before the match, I knew I was able to win,” she stated.