US Open: Leylah Fernandez stuns Aryna Sabalenka in semi-final to keep grand slam dream alive

Canadian teenager thanks the New York crowd after reaching her first major final with victory over world No 2

Three-set epic finishes 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 with British 18-year-old Emma Raducanu awaiting her in Saturday’s showpiece

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Leylah Fernandez looks in shock after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in their US Open semi-final. Photos: EPA

Published: 9:41am, 10 Sep 2021Updated: 1:38pm, 10 Sep 2021

Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez beat world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in a three-set thriller to seal a place in her first grand slam final and continue her “magical run” at the 2021 US Open.

Fernandez racked up three match points, but in the end she needed only one as Sabalenka hit long, the 19-year-old winning it 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 and dropping to her knees, as her younger sister cried in the stands on Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

It was an epic encounter between the second seed Sabalenka and the unseeded teenager, who celebrated her birthday earlier in the week and will now face 18-year-old Briton Emma Raducanu, who stormed into the final with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Greece’s Maria Sakkari.

Fernandez – who has an Ecuadorean father and a Filipino-Canadian mother – had already seen off the reigning champion and No 3 seed Naomi Osaka at Flushing Meadows before beating Angelique Kerber and Elina Svitolina, establishing herself as a fan favourite along the way.

An emotional Leylah Fernandez reacts after defeating Aryna Sabalenka.

The crowd in Queens – led by her family and a watching Steve Nash, the former NBA star now coaching the Brooklyn Nets – cheered her on again, and Fernandez was asked to explain her remarkable run.