New York, Sep. 6 (IANS): Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez staged a fine comeback to knock out former US Open champion Angelique Kerber of Germany, and reach the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career.
In a battle of left-handers, world No.73 Fernandez fought back from a set and a break down to stun No.16 seed and 2016 US Open winner Kerber, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, in 2 hours and 15 minutes, one day before her 19th birthday on Sunday evening.
Fernandez had also knocked defending champion Naomi Osaka of Japan out of the draw with a come-from-behind victory in the third round. Her fourth-round match against Kerber was nearly a mirror image of the contest against Osaka, as the Canadian again fought her way through a second-set tiebreak before ousting the German.
Former world No.1 Kerber came into the match having won 17 of her last 19 matches, as she had pulled off a resurgent summer which included her first WTA singles title in three years in Bad Homburg and a run to the semifinals at Wimbledon.
But Fernandez, one of two 18-year-olds to have reached the Round of 16 this week (Emma Raducanu is the other), persevered through another comeback win in New York, smashing 45 winners past Kerber.
In the quarterfinals, Fernandez will take on No.5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. The 2019 US Open semifinalist, Svitolina dispatched No.12 seed Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 16 minutes.