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Leylah Fernandez US Open 2021

‘No idea how I’m feeling right now’ – Leylah Fernandez equals Serena Williams achievement at US Open


Leylah Fernandez equalled a long-standing achievement by Serena Williams after making the semi-finals of the US Open.

The 19-year-old Canadian was not fancied at all heading into the US Open, with her ranked 73rd in the world.

She beat defending champion Naomi Osaka earlier in the competition, and she backed that up by eliminating world number five Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals too.

That makes Leylah Fernandez the first woman since a then 18-year-old Serena Williams in 1999 to beat two top-five players at the US Open.

“I honestly have no idea what I’m feeling right now,” Fernandez said on court after the win.

“I was so nervous and I was trying to do what my coach told me to do.

“Thanks to you guys, to the crowd, to the New York crowd, I was able to push through today.”

Fernandez is guaranteed to jump to number 36 in the world next week, and will enter the top 20 should be go on to win the tournament.

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.