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      Leylah Fernandez Advances to U.S. Open Quarterfinals

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      On the eve of her 19th birthday, the young Canadian continued her magical run, beating Angelique Kerber 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. She is exactly where she planned to be.Less than a week ago, few casual tennis fans knew even a little, if anything, about Leylah Fernandez. When she stunned Naomi Osaka in the third round of the U.S. Open, many were more focused on the player who lost than on the player who won.Those same people wondered if the precocious teenager from Canada had benefited from Osaka’s poor form that night.But after storming back to beat the more dependable and in-form Angelique Kerber in the fourth round on Sunday, Fernandez — with her natural exuberance, ubiquitous smile and fist raised high in the air — has become the sensation of the this year’s Open.“I think she can go really far in the next few years,” Kerber said after the match.There is a chance she could go really far in just the next few days. Fernandez is playing the best tennis of her young career, blasting forehand winners and exuding the kind of joyous fighting spirit and confidence that has captivated New York fans during a wild three-day run.With a raucous crowd packed into Louis Armstrong Stadium chanting her name, Fernandez lost the first set on Sunday and was down a service break in the second before she outlasted Kerber, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, less than 12 hours before turning 19.She was delighted. She was proud. She raised her arms in the air and flashed her magnetic smile. But don’t think that she is shocked by her own success, even if the rest of the tennis world is.“I expected that one day my tennis game is going to come through and that I’m going to be on the big stage in front of a big crowd playing against big players, and also getting the wins,” she said. “I’m not surprised of anything that’s happening right now.”Fernandez, the latest Canadian to burst onto the scene, said she would celebrate her win with her family and her fitness coach, Duglas Cordero, at the same Italian restaurant they have dined at every night of the tournament. Her birthday celebration on Monday will include a third-round doubles match alongside Erin Routliffe of New Zealand.But while she looks ahead, Fernandez can also reflect on this: While she was still just 18, she took down Osaka, the No. 3 seed and defending champion, and Kerber, the No. 16 seed and 2016 U.S. Open champion, all in less than 48 hours. Together, those two champions own seven major titles (Osaka has four), but for the left-handed Fernandez, they were just two players who required unique tactical approaches.“The biggest difference is that one is a left-hander, and the other one is a right-handed player,” she said. “I just approached the matches the same.”Now she must toggle back to another right-hander. Fernandez’s opponent in the quarterfinal stage is No. 5 Elina Svitolina, who had no trouble dispatching No. 12 Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-3, in 76 minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.Fernandez, who was born and grew up in Montreal, became the first Canadian into the quarterfinal stage this year. No. 6 Bianca Andreescu, from Toronto and the 2019 champion, will play No. 17 Maria Sakkari of Greece in the fourth round Monday night.But even as the stakes steadily increase, Fernandez has shown no fear on court during her march into the second week of what is arguably the biggest tennis tournament of them all. Perhaps it is because she is too young to know any better.“I remember the feeling really well,” Kerber, 33, said. “I mean, yeah, it’s a few years ago. But of course, she has no pressure.”Though she lost, Angelique Kerber heaped praise on Fernandez after the match.Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports, via ReutersTrailing by a set and down a break in the second, Fernandez flipped the momentum of the match on its head when she broke back to make it 4-4, taking the ball out of the air and ripping a backhand cross-court winner. Up went her fist and the fans erupted.In the tiebreaker, Fernandez went ahead 5-1 and the fans, who were streaming into the stadium as word spread that she was putting up another good fight, began chanting, “Let’s Go Ley-lah,” as if she were De-rek Je-ter.Kerber fought back to make it 5-4, but then Fernandez reached for a Kerber serve out wide and ripped a forehand winner down the line from outside the court back into it — a shot so precise, so powerful and so bold that it elicited a racket clap of appreciation from Kerber.Two points later, Fernandez forced Kerber so far wide that she could not get the ball back safely into the court. Again, Fernandez’s arms went up in celebration and the fans roared their approval. Fernandez carried the momentum into the third set, where she finished the job.When she won the final point, the audience exploded and jumped to their feet as one with a deafening cheer for their newly-adopted favorite young star-in-the-making.“I was just enjoying every moment of it,” Fernandez said. “Honestly, the crowd has been amazing, so thanks to them I was able to win.”But she is not the only teenager making a mark at this year’s event. Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, 18, upset No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and then beat Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk, 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, on Sunday to reach a quarterfinal. Also, the British 18-year-old Emma Raducanu will play Shelby Rogers in the fourth round on Monday.Fernandez said she remembered the first time she saw Alcaraz in the junior circuit and thought she was watching the reincarnation of a right-handed Rafael Nadal.“Seeing all these teenagers, these youngsters doing so great at the U.S. Open and the other tournaments, too, is eye-opening,” she said.She called herself a “happy-go-lucky” kid who has always found joy in whatever she does. The fans have fed off that energy, and she has fed off theirs. Perhaps one day, after many years on the tour, when she is 33 like Kerber, she will lose some of her youthful glee.What Fernandez enjoys now is a special, singular feeling, one that Kerber remembers well, and said is almost impossible to recapture.“I think it’s just for young people,” Kerber said. More

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      Emma Raducanu Plays Shelby Rogers at the U.S. Open

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      The rising British star is into the round of 16 at her first Open, and tennis fans can’t get enough of the teenager who has yet to drop a set in New York.The most inexperienced players also looked the most comfortable in the first week of the U.S. Open.Starting in the qualifying draw, Emma Raducanu of Britain has won all six of her matches in straight sets, without needing a tiebreaker in any of them. Her most recent win was her most impressive: She beat 41st-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, 6-0, 6-1, on Saturday to reach the round of 16, where she will face the American Shelby Rogers on Monday.“I’m extremely fresh; I haven’t really played on tour for the whole entire year,” Raducanu said Saturday. “This whole experience is just so new to me; I think that’s the enjoyment factor that I’m getting.”Raducanu was the third 18-year-old to reach the fourth round of this year’s U.S. Open, joining Leylah Fernandez and Carlos Alcaraz. Those two have advanced to the quarterfinals.“To have so many young players coming through is just really great for the game because it just shows how strong this next generation is,” Raducanu said. “Having so many young players and 18-year-olds, I think we all inspire each other to play better. Because like for me today, I wanted to join them in the second week as well, so that was an extra bit of motivation.”Though Raducanu has won her matches away from the biggest courts where Fernandez and Alcaraz broke through, she has proved no less popular here. After her news conference on Saturday, she spent over an hour doing interviews, signing autographs and taking selfies.Raducanu, who was born in Toronto to a Romanian father and Chinese mother, now represents Britain. She was ranked outside the top 300 when she made a surprise run to the fourth round of Wimbledon as a wild card in her Grand Slam debut, becoming a national celebrity in the process. That tournament ended on a down note, however, when she was forced to abandon her fourth-round match after she had trouble breathing.“Having played like four, five weeks on the tour now, I think that with each week I’m getting more and more accustomed to the physical demands of playing at this level,” Raducanu said. “Yeah, I think I’m improving.”While Raducanu remained the most buzzed about player after Wimbledon, lining up new endorsements in the process, she continued to improve away from the spotlight. After Wimbledon she played as much as she could, winding her way from San Jose to Landisville, Pa., to Chicago before coming to New York for her first qualifying match.Less than two months after Wimbledon, Raducanu is on the cusp of breaking into the top 100, and is getting better by the round. Her win over Sorribes Tormo, who plays a grueling brand of tennis and who knocked top-ranked Ashleigh Barty out of the Tokyo Olympics, was poised, precise and patient. Though Raducanu prefers playing first-strike tennis, she held her own in long exchanges with Sorribes Tormo, who pushed the average rally length to over six shots.Raducanu posed for photos with fans at the U.S. Open.Peter Foley/EPA, via Shutterstock“Honestly, I think with the amount of matches I have played and the experience that I have accumulated in the last four, five weeks, my game is just getting better with each match,” Raducanu said.During the coronavirus pandemic, Raducanu trained at the Lawn Tennis Association’s National Tennis Center in London, working with Coach Mark Petchey after Philippe Dehaes was unable to come to England because of travel restrictions. Petchey picked up where Dehaes left off in reconstructing Raducanu’s forehand, changing her grip and adding more topspin to the shot. He also tested racket models with her, ultimately choosing a longer Wilson racket to give her shots more pop. While her game needed work, Petchey was impressed by her attitude and commitment, which he equated with that of another player he has worked with: Andy Murray.“Her attitude toward training and practice was, without doubt, equally good as, say, Andy’s,” Petchey said. “I did not have one session with her in that period where it was anything less than everything she had.”Petchey, who provided remote television analysis for Amazon Prime during last year’s U.S. Open, said his enthusiasm for Raducanu made it easy to return to the practice court with her hours after pulling overnight shifts in the broadcast booth.“Honestly, I wouldn’t have done those mornings if I hadn’t been so inspired by her attitude,” he said. “It won me over from Day 1.”After working with Petchey, Raducanu worked with Nigel Sears during the grass-court season. She is now coached by a third English coach, Andrew Richardson.A rare top prospect who completed her studies at a conventional high school rather than attending a tennis academy, Raducanu was “very bright and very analytical with how she sees the game,” said Petchey, who called her a “helicopter player” for her ability to see it as if watching from above.“If you don’t have the tools, that doesn’t help you that much because you can’t put the ball in the right place,” Petchey said of her strategic acumen. “But Emma has got the tools, and she’s able to pick your weakness and get the ball through the court quick enough to make an impact.”He added: “At this developmental stage of a player’s career, it’s hard to be playing with that kind of clarity. That’s what I’ve seen over the summer: She’s been clinical with her strategy, and executed it perfectly. That’s really impressive for an 18-year-old.”Petchey said he believed Raducanu had reached “50, 60 percent of her physical capabilities,” which makes her potential even greater.“There are things she’ll be doing so much better a year from now,” he said. “That’s probably the most exciting part of it: She’s already an incredible player, and she’s got a lot of ceiling room to go. She’s going to be great for the WTA. She’s going to be awesome.” More

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      A Trip to the U.S. Open Forever Changed Me

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      A father-son tournament gave our columnist almost unfettered access to players at the 1983 U.S. Open, changing the course of his life.There slouched John McEnroe, the top-ranked tennis player in the world, dolefully reading a newspaper in a corner of the locker room.There stood Ivan Lendl, the second-best player in the world, only a few feet from me in the cramped quarters. In a few hours, he would be on center court, but now he talked to another player about golf.I took it all in, a fly on the wall amid tennis royalty. Mats Wilander ambled by. I could hear Jimmy Connors telling his ribald jokes.Was this really happening? Was 16-year-old me in the locker room at the United States Open of 1983? Even today, I pinch myself when I think of it.That year, my dad and I made up a doubles team representing the Pacific Northwest in the father and son division of the Equitable Family Tennis Challenge. We had flown to New York, all expenses paid, to compete against amateur tandems from across the county in the popular tournament. Its championship rounds were held at Flushing Meadows, smack in the middle of America’s tennis grand slam.Kurt Streeter and his father, Mel Streeter, after the Equitable event in 1983.Courtesy Kurt StreeterEver since, the U.S. Open has been special to me in a way I feel down to the marrow. Without it, I would be a different person. And I would not have a cherished memory with my late father.What a different time that was. In 1983, total prize money for the male and female pros stood at $1 million. Fans and players mingled on the grounds. Entering through the gates, nobody checked your bags.As part of the Equitable event, teams of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives and siblings played matches on the same courts where the pros played. We had passes that let us into the locker room, right there with the best players in the world.During the Open’s second week, after playing a match in our little tournament where the big prize was a silver plaque, I showered next to a small clutch of pros in the shower room. There I was — soaping up in the buff — when one of the pros walked in to take his shower. It was France’s Yannick Noah, my favorite player, who had slashed his way to victory at the French Open that summer, becoming the first Black player to win a Grand Slam tournament championship since Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon in 1975.Noah kindly asked about me in his accented English. I explained that I was a nationally ranked junior, one of the few Black players at that level in the United States, and told him about the Equitable tournament. I asked if he was ready for his next big match that night in the quarterfinals. He said he could not wait.“I hope you and your father are there,” he added before wishing us luck.When our columnist met Yannick Noah at the 1983 U.S. Open, Noah had just won that year’s French Open, becoming the first Black player to win a Grand Slam championship since Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon in 1975. Focus on Sport/Getty ImagesAs great and lucky as they were, those rare moments in the locker room were not what sticks with me most about that Open. What sticks out are encounters with two other tennis luminaries. Encounters that changed my life.One afternoon on the Flushing grounds, I spotted Nick Bollettieri, the former Army paratrooper turned supercoach whose Florida tennis academy produced many of the world’s best young players.I sidled up to Bollettieri. I asked about his academy, and told him I dreamed of attending one day but that my family, struggling after my parents divorced and dad’s small business faltered, could not afford the extremely steep price. Luckily, one of Bollettieri’s assistant coaches was nearby. The assistant said he had seen me put up a good fight against one of the top seeds at the boys’ 16-and-under nationals in Kalamazoo, Mich. I needed polish, the assistant said, but I had game.Bollettieri thought for a moment, then he motioned for me to come closer. “Find Arthur,” he instructed, “and ask if he will help.” Bollettieri meant Arthur Ashe, whose Wimbledon win had sparked my tennis ambition. The two had teamed up to help other minority players attend the academy.If Arthur would fund part of it, Bollettieri said he would also help.I ended up asking my father to find Ashe and broach Bollettieri’s idea. It seemed too daunting a task for me to pull off. But dad always pushed me, always looked for ways to help me stand on my own two feet. He had taught himself tennis after his college basketball career ended, and pretty much insisted I learn tennis too. Now he told me it was my job, and mine alone, to make the pitch.So began my search for Arthur Ashe. I was not usually this gutsy, but I waited for him to finish a news conference near center court at the old Louis Armstrong Stadium. When he finished, I tepidly approached.I can still feel Ashe’s welcoming handshake, still sense his patience as he listened carefully to what I had to say. I remember him promising to see what he could do to help.Arthur Ashe after winning the U.S. Open in 1968. He was the first Black male player to win a Grand Slam tournament.Authenticated News/Getty ImagesThe next day, as my father and I played one of our matches on the Flushing grounds, Ashe stopped by to watch a few points.At first, I was so nervous that I clunked a few easy returns. But when it was time to unleash my one true weapon, a left-handed serve I could blast like a fastball or bend in a spinning arc, I cranked it up.Ace. Ace. Winner.My dad and I did not win the tournament, but we won that match. And Ashe knew I was for real.A few months later, at home in Seattle, I received a phone call. “Hello, Kurt,” said the voice on the other end, “this is Arthur Ashe.”He had struck a deal with Bollettieri to help pay for my stay at the Florida academy. I went there for the last semester of my senior year in high school. The place swarmed with tennis talent. My first bunkmate? Andre Agassi.Fate holds a mysterious sway in our lives. If I had not been at the U.S. Open that year, I would not have ended up at Bollettieri’s academy.If I had not attended the academy, I would not have had the confidence to attend the University of California, Berkeley, a perennial collegiate tennis power and the university that shaped my adult life. At Cal, I played my way from lowly recruit to a full scholarship and became the first African American to captain the men’s tennis team.Fate has its way with us all.My brother Jon and I ended up treating dad to a trip to New York for the 2004 U.S. Open, our first time back since the Equitable tournament.It was there that I noticed he was sick. He struggled for breath and had lost not just a step but also a measure of his mental sharpness. On one sweltering afternoon, he wandered off and got lost.Not too long after that, my father lay in a hospice. He was dying of amyloidosis, a blood disorder that attacked his brain, lungs and heart.As he struggled for life, we often held hands. I searched for any trace of his familiar, comforting strength. When he summoned the energy to talk, sports was the cord that once again bound us together.We spoke of memories. We recalled our shared love for the Seattle Sonics and Roger Federer, and all the beautiful years we spent together playing tennis from the time I was a toddler.“We’ll always have the Open,” he told me, gripping my hand firmly.Yes, I assured, we always will. More

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      Mardy Fish Can Relate to What Naomi Osaka Is Going Through

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      Anxiety forced Fish to withdraw from the 2012 U.S. Open. Now he is open about his mental health and works with the U.S.T.A. to provide more resources for players.The fourth-round singles matches at the U.S. Open were underway on Sunday, and Mardy Fish, the Davis Cup captain and former tennis star, was remembering the moment nine years ago in New York when he sat in the car sobbing with his wife, Stacey, and decided, with her help, that he could not play in the fourth round against Roger Federer.“It was just crazy anxiety, crazy, crazy, just how am I going to walk out on this court?” he said by telephone from his home in Los Angeles. “But it never, never would have crossed my mind, if my wife wasn’t there with me, that I wouldn’t play. We’re so trained to never show weakness, never show fear, to the other side of the court. But my wife saying, ‘Well, you don’t have to play’ — that part right there was like, right away, just instantly, I felt better, like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.”Fish is now 39, a parent with Stacey of two young children. He works in finance and is still involved in professional tennis as the U.S. Davis Cup captain. But he is also a mentor, sharing his experience as a prominent athlete who had to deal with mental health problems when the subject was close to taboo in professional sports.“The reason why I’m so vocal or open about it now is that I didn’t have that success story to lean on when I was going through it,” he said.He is friendly with Naomi Osaka and her agent Stuart Duguid, and empathized when Osaka announced tearfully on Friday after her third-round defeat at the U.S. Open that she planned to take an indefinite break from the game that no longer brings her joy, even when she wins.“I would tell her, do whatever makes you happy,” Fish said. “She doesn’t have to hit another tennis ball the rest of her life, and if that makes her happy, that’s what she should do. I think she would regret that, but it’s whatever makes her want to get up in the morning and be happy. And whatever she’s been doing for the last couple months, or however long it’s been, is not doing that for her right now. So hopefully she finds peace and comfort.”Fish spent months housebound with repeated anxiety attacks after his withdrawal in New York. He received therapy and medication.After playing intermittently on tour, he returned to the U.S. Open in 2015 and won a round. It was the upbeat closure that he desired and is part of the journey he shares in a documentary that will be released on Tuesday as part of the Netflix “Untold” series.“To educate is really the most important thing,” Fish said. “To try to reach people that have never understood mental health or had issues with it or people around them who have had issues with it. To just educate them and just understand that Naomi Osaka is not going to pull out of the French Open just because she doesn’t want to talk to the press. And Simone Biles is not going to compete in the Olympics just because she doesn’t want to lose. The people that think that, and there are lots of them, it’s just unfortunate.”For Fish, one of the keys is to stop regarding mental health as separate from physical health.“It’s just health,” Fish said. “They call it mental health, but your brain is part of your body. It’s an injury. You just can’t see it.”Long considered one of the most talented players of his era, Fish improved his fitness and broke through in 2011 to reach the top 10 and qualify for the eight-man tour championships. But he said his rise also created new expectations and stresses.“My life changed, for the better initially, and then just my body and brain, the way I’m put together, couldn’t handle it,” he said.In 2012, he began experiencing a racing heartbeat that would wake him in the middle of the night and was diagnosed as a form of arrhythmia. Though he was treated for the condition, the underlying issue was an anxiety disorder, and while playing tennis was a refuge, he also began experiencing panic during his third-round win over Gilles Simon at the 2012 U.S. Open.“It was like my only comfort was taken away from me that night and it put me into basically rock bottom, zero serotonin left in my brain,” he said.“It’s not about being tough. I practice kickboxing and muay Thai right now, like, come on, I’ll take anyone on in the ring. You can punch me in the face all you want, and I’ll hit you back. I train that stuff. It’s not about being weak. I was strong mentally. I was a bulldog. To win, I would have sacrificed anything. I’ll put my competitiveness up against anyone’s. It’s not about that. It’s actually the opposite. Showing weakness and that vulnerability is actually showing strength, in my opinion.” Fish is working as a mentor during the U.S. Open as part of a new initiative from the United States Tennis Association to provide more mental health resources for players, including on-call psychologists. Claudia Reardon, the U.S.T.A.’s new mental health consultant, is overseeing the program.Mardy Fish walked off the court after losing to Feliciano López in five sets at the 2015 U.S. Open.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times“Athletes who talk about their own use of mental health resources or their own struggles with mental health symptoms or disorders really do a wonderful service to sport in general in terms of demystifying and normalizing that experience,” Reardon said in an interview. “To have mental health symptoms is not incompatible with high-level sports, and it’s actually a sign of strength to reach out for help.”Fish said no player had yet contacted him during the tournament, but he said “tons of people” had contacted him since he began speaking openly about his condition.“People you’ve heard of; people you’ve never heard of,” he said. “Coaches, players, from tennis and other sports. It’s been really nice to be helpful in that way. I’ve made some great relationships because of it, so it’s been comforting in that way, to know I wasn’t alone and that other people wanted to be vulnerable as well, just not to the world.”Osaka, like Fish, has taken a more open approach, revealing this year that she struggled with anxiety and depression since winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2018 U.S. Open. In a round-table discussion before this year’s Open, she, Fish, Nick Kyrgios and Billie Jean King talked about multiple topics, including mental health and media relations.Though Osaka spoke before and during the Open about her desire to focus on the positives of being a world-class player, she struggled with her emotions in her loss on Friday to the Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez. She tossed her racket and knocked a ball into the stands in frustration and then teared up at a news conference. She said she did not know when she would play her next tennis match.“Recently, when I win, I don’t feel happy,” she said. “I feel more like relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad, and I don’t think that’s normal.”Fish was watching and listening.“That last press conference was her being really open,” he said. “I think it’s really important to put yourself first and what you feel is important to you and what makes you happy, and hopefully tennis is in there for her. I think it is. I know she understands her place in history. But the stuff outside the court has now gotten to her more than just wins and losses, and it’s unfortunate, but it’s important for her to make sure she feels comfortable again and happy again.” More

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      What to Watch on Sunday at the U.S. Open

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      Barbora Krejcikova and Garbiñe Muguruza meet in a battle of players ranked in the top 10 in the world. Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime plays Frances Tiafoe.How to watch: From noon to 6 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN, 7 to 11 p.m. on ESPN2, and streaming on the ESPN app. In Canada, on TSN from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN app.Matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are estimates and may fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | NoonElina Svitolina vs. Simona HalepElina Svitolina, the fifth seed, has never been past the semifinals of a Grand Slam event, while Simona Halep, the 12th seed, has won two major titles on the “natural surfaces,” grass and red clay. The two stars have met nine times on tour, and Svitolina holds a slight edge, with five victories. Although both missed out on the U.S. Open last year, they have had plenty of experience in Arthur Ashe Stadium and will be sure to provide a wonderful match to start the day.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 7 p.m.Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Frances TiafoeOn Friday night, both Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe battled opponents for five sets under the lights of the two main stadiums at Flushing Meadows. Tiafoe upset the fifth seed, Andrey Rublev, in a tight match; Tiafoe won 150 points, while Rublev won 148, and every other stat line provided similar margins. Auger-Aliassime pushed past Roberto Bautista Agut, the 18th seed, riding behind a dominant service performance that included 27 aces. As the two heavy hitters face off, viewers can expect an explosive match under the lights.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 8 p.m.Barbora Krejcikova vs. Garbiñe MuguruzaThe WTA tour has been defined by a lack of predictability. New stars appear, and consistent champions struggle through major events. In contrast, this year’s U.S. Open has been a much more favorite-friendly venue. Today’s match between Barbora Krejcikova and Garbiñe Muguruza will be the first since the 2020 Australian Open played between top 10 players at a major. Krejcikova won the French Open this year, and Muguruza has won two Grand Slam events, making this a particularly well-matched pair; neither will be hindered by the nerves that can accompany a deep run at a major tournament.Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain playing in a first-round match on Monday.Elsa/Getty ImagesLouis Armstrong STADIUM | 1 p.m.Leylah Fernandez vs. Angelique KerberLeylah Fernandez knocked out Naomi Osaka in a three-set battle on Friday night, outlasting the defending champion. Fernandez won her first WTA title on hard courts at the Monterrey Open in March and has backed up her breakthrough year with fearless ball striking.Angelique Kerber, a three-time major champion, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, her first time past the fourth round of a major since her victory at Wimbledon in 2018. Kerber has faced tough opposition through the first three rounds but has looked thoroughly in control, using her counterpunching style of play to push around more aggressive opponents.Sleeper match of the day.Grandstand | 5 p.m.Carlos Alcaraz Garfia vs. Peter GojowczykPeter Gojowczyk, ranked No. 141, upset Ugo Humbert, the 23rd seed, in the first round after a grueling set of qualifying matches to get into the main draw. Having never been past the second round of a Grand Slam event, even with 17 main draw appearances, Gojowczyk is flying in rarefied air.Carlos Alcaraz Garfia broke into the public consciousness on Friday after a career-defining upset over the third seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 18-year-old Alcaraz played a near-perfect match to reach the fourth round of a major event for the first time, using his flat baseline shots to power past Tsitsipas, a former ATP Tour Finals champion.As this is the only main draw singles match out on the grounds today, expect New York fans to pull for either the veteran underdog or the young star based on whichever will help elongate the match. More

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      Barbora Krejcikova, on a Roll, Is a Contender at the U.S. Open

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      When Open qualifying was canceled in 2020, the Czech player who was outside the top 100 doubled down on her game, fitness and work ethic. Now she’s a top 10 player and in the final 16.Barbora Krejcikova missed out on last year’s U.S. Open when the qualifying draw was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, she played small tournaments in her native Czech Republic in hopes that she might earn enough ranking points to move closer to her goal of breaking into the WTA top 100 singles rankings for the first time.Krejcikova cracked the top 100 last October, but that was only the beginning. This year, she is not only playing the U.S. Open, she’s ranked in the top 10, moving from afterthought to juggernaut.Beginning with a WTA title in Strasbourg in May, Krejcikova is on a 28-3 roll, which included a stunning run to the French Open title, and another WTA title in July in Prague. Her three losses in that time came at Wimbledon and Cincinnati to top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, who was the eventual champion at both events, and to eventual gold medalist Belinda Bencic at the Olympics.“It feels good, for sure,” Krejcikova said in an interview. “I’m still feeling like I’m dreaming, but I’m also improving with every single match. I’m just very happy that I can play all the big tournaments, and get to see all the big players, to learn from them a lot and have a chance to play against them. All of this is something very special, and I’m just extremely happy it’s happening.”The eighth-seeded Krejcikova will face the ninth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza in the fourth round on Sunday, the first Grand Slam match between two women ranked in the WTA top 10 since the 2020 Australian Open (Muguruza is ranked 10th).Muguruza, who beat Krejcikova in March in Dubai and lost to her last month in Cincinnati, called her steep ascent “quite shocking,” and said she could already sense a difference in Krejcikova’s game and attitude. “She has way more confidence now after winning a slam,” Muguruza said. “I can feel it in her shots.”Krejcikova, 25, said that her work ethic changed and sharpened during the pandemic, when she pushed herself to do more fitness, physiotherapy, and recovery work than she had before.“I had more time, so I spent more time with my coach,” Krejcikova said. “I started to be a little more professional. I didn’t expect that it’s going to help, but as I see it right now, it’s helping and I’m moving forward. That’s where I get the craziness in my head saying ‘OK, you’ve got to go again, you’ve got to go again.’”Krejcikova said that “craziness” has led to a single-mindedness about her craft. “I just work really hard, and I dedicate everything to tennis,” she said. “All my focus is around tennis, around the things about tennis. Tennis, tennis, tennis, tennis. Even sometimes my family says I have to stop at some moments, but I’m at this stage where I’m playing this well, and I just want to keep improving. That’s my mentality.”Simona Halep, who first played against Krejcikova five years ago when she was ranked 200th, said she had always recognized a strong drive in Krejcikova, on top of her quick hands and stable demeanor. “She’s a great player, and I think she deserves to be there,” Halep said. “Every time I saw her in the gym and on the court, she was working super hard. Yeah, credit to her.”Krejcikova said she isn’t sure what kept her from reaching her goals sooner, but said that she wanted to enjoy every moment now.“I’m just really happy I’m here,” she said. “Playing the smaller tournaments, it’s not the same. Being here, playing Grand Slams, playing WTAs, being able to play on a big stage, on a big court, you cannot really describe it. You have that feeling in your stomach when you step on a court and you’re very nervous and you don’t know what to expect. You just want to play your best tennis, and you don’t know if you’re going to play your best tennis or not.“Then the first point starts, and for me time stops, and I’m just there. I’m just enjoying the moment, and I think during that moment it’s where I’m playing my best tennis. I just want to get to this mood, to this point. I just want to fight for every single point in every single match, because it took me so long to get here, and who knows how long I’m going to be here? You never really know, so I want to take every chance that I get.”Krejcikova, who is ranked second in the WTA year-to-date rankings behind Barty, said her next goal is to be considered worthy of the sport’s largest stages: the main courts and marquee sessions at Grand Slam tournaments.She said that despite her impressive results, she does not feel like a star attraction.“Right now I don’t feel that even after all that I did, and all that’s happening, I still don’t feel that T.V. wants to see me or the tournaments want to see me,” she said. “I don’t know why; it doesn’t really matter. I just want to get to that point where I’m going to play my first round on a huge court, and there will be people who want to see me.“I’ll want them to be entertained, and to do the best show for them. I’m not at this point yet. My motivation is not winning or losing; my motivation is to get to this stage.” More

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      Carlos Alcaraz Emerges as a Sensation at the U.S. Open

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      After the teenager from Spain stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas, he said he has dreamed of playing on “the best court in the world” for much of his 18 years. Now he’s won on it.The coming-of-age party and fifth-set tiebreaker were over on Friday night. Carlos Alcaraz, an 18-year-old Spaniard, had finally finished throwing towels into the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands after his U.S. Open upset of Stefano Tsitsipas. One by one or in small groups, the fans walked up the stairs toward the exits.They were smiling, sometimes shaking their heads and uttering words like “amazing” and “unbelievable.” This being 2021, two young boys ran toward their mother brandishing their phones to show off the courtside selfies they had taken with Alcaraz.Has another tennis star been born? We will see. Big expectations can bring even ultra-talented teenagers down to earth. But the 55th-ranked Alcaraz looked like the real deal against the third-seeded Tsitsipas, ripping next-level groundstrokes, making the court look small with his foot speed and embracing the big stage and moment with the same gusto that Spain’s greatest player Rafael Nadal did in his teens.It is quite a package, and it was quite a third-round match: four hours and seven minutes of momentum shifts, fast-twitch offense and defense and raw emotion.It ended with Alcaraz flat on his back on the court that he had never set foot on until Friday morning when he walked into the nearly empty stadium for practice and looked up — and up — at the five tiers of stands.“When I walked in, I took a photo with my team,” he said in an interview in Spanish. “It was spectacular. I could not believe this moment had finally come. In my opinion, it’s the best court in the world. So big.”One wonders if Alcaraz’s court preferences will change if he becomes a regular on center court at the French Open or Wimbledon. Clay after all is Spain’s favorite tennis canvas and Alcaraz’s first surface. But his bold game seems right for bright lights and big, brash cities. He experienced Ashe Stadium to the fullest in his debut with the crowd roaring for him, in part because of the ill will that Tsitsipas has generated of late with his anti-vaccine stance and gamesmanship but also because of Alcaraz’s incandescence.He sank his teeth into the match immediately, jumping out to a 4-0 lead, forcing Tsitsipas to adapt to the ferocious pace.“Ball speed was incredible,” Tsitsipas said. “I’ve never seen someone hit the ball so hard. Took time to adjust. Took time to kind of develop my game around his game style.”According to data from Hawkeye, Alcaraz’s average forehand speed was 78 miles per hour: 3 miles per hour faster than the U.S. Open men’s average this year. His backhand speed was 75 miles per hour: five miles per hour faster than the average.No wonder Tsitsipas felt like there was no safe haven, but he appeared to have solved the problem when he won the second set and then took a 5-2 lead in the third, going up two breaks of serve. But he lost the edge and the set in a tiebreaker before roaring back to win the fourth set 6-0.The logical thought at this stage was that the kid had had a great day, but that best-of-five sets against a top three player would remind him of how far he had to go.So much for logic. Alcaraz resumed mixing huge groundstrokes and deft drop shots, hitting high notes with the crowd providing nothing but positive feedback. The final score was 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 0-6, 7-6 (5).Carlos Alcaraz during his upset win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times“I didn’t expect him to raise his level so much, especially after having lost the fourth set this way,” Tsitsipas said. “He was a completely different player.”You cannot prepare yourself completely for such situations. You must experience them to find out what you are made of. Alcaraz, index finger wagging and fist pumping, looked very much in his element.“The fact that the crowd was behind me and pulling for me to win is what I think helped me reach that level in the fifth set,” Alcaraz told me. “Without them, I wouldn’t have made it. It’s something I will never forget.”It has been quite a first U.S. Open, quite a first visit to New York, but Alcaraz has imagined himself here for years.“I could see from watching on television that the New York fans were passionate about tennis,” he said. “I wanted to experience that for myself.”He is from Murcia in southeastern Spain, and from a tennis family. His father, also named Carlos, was a fine junior player and later became the sports director at a tennis club in Murcia.“In my family, I think we have the sport in our blood,” Alcaraz said. “We all played from the time we were young.”He started hitting at age 3 and was soon winning national junior titles in Spain while playing against his elders. He won his first ATP points at 14 — an exceptionally young age — at an event in Murcia. He played the professional tournament only because it was close to home, but his potential was clear in the small world of Spanish tennis.Nadal, one of men’s tennis’s greatest prodigies, was born and raised on the Balearic island of Majorca in a sporting family and did not lack for local tennis role models. Carlos Moya, the French Open champion and the first Spanish man to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings, was also from Majorca and mentored and practiced with Nadal when was in his early teens.Rafael Nadal and Alcaraz at the Madrid Open in May.Sergio Perez/ReutersAlcaraz has had contact with Nadal. There is no shortage of photos on the internet of them posing together when Alcaraz was still a junior. They played in May in the second round of the Madrid Open on clay, and Nadal won 6-1, 6-2. But the comparisons are likely to continue if Alcaraz keeps grabbing big matches by the lapels.“Thanks to Rafa, I learned the importance of playing with high energy and giving everything from the first ball to the last,” Alcaraz said. “The challenge of trying to go to where Rafa has gone is also a big motivation for me, even if I know it’s all but impossible.”The Spanish star who has had the biggest influence on Alcaraz’s game is actually Juan Carlos Ferrero, another former world No. 1 who is now Alcaraz’s coach and operates an academy in Villena in Alicante.“Since I met him when he was 14, 15, I knew of his potential, about his level,” Ferrero said on Saturday at the Open.Ferrero, a French Open champion and U.S. Open finalist in 2003, was a great mover: a fluid baseliner who unlocked rallies and problems with structure and consistency. Alcaraz is a serial risk taker who likes to resolve the conflict in a single swipe of his racket but does share one of Ferrero’s qualities: fast feet. Alcaraz’s ability to run around his backhand and rip an airborne forehand is already world class.“When you see somebody at 18 who can hit the ball that big already off both sides and moves that well, it’s close to unique,” said Paul Annacone, who coached former No. 1s Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. “To me, his backhand is actually better than his forehand. He misses his forehand. It’s huge, but he misses it. He doesn’t miss the backhand much at all. Sometimes I do wonder, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, whether someone who plays like that is really fearless or just doesn’t have any tennis I.Q. yet. That’s the unknown, but if you look at the kid’s tools, once he understands how to open up the court and use short angles and realize he doesn’t need to blast everything, it will be pretty scary.”Getting the balance right will take time, and the next challenge will be avoiding a letdown on Sunday when Alcaraz will be the favorite instead of the underdog against 141st ranked qualifier Peter Gojowczyk of Germany in the fourth round.“I know I have to take this round by round,” he said. “I can’t get ahead of myself, but I think I have a great opportunity here.”What is clear for now is that Alcaraz’s take-no-prisoners style of play is not a reflection of his approach to life outside the arena.“Outside the court, I’m a relaxed guy, pleasant, always laughing and making jokes,” he said. “I am totally the opposite of what I am on court.” More

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      Shelby Rogers Beats Ashleigh Barty at the U.S. Open

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      The American beat Barty, who had won five tournaments this year including Wimbledon, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5). Rogers made the crowd work for her.Shelby Rogers held an unusual distinction when she walked onto the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday. She was the last remaining American woman in the U.S. Open women’s singles draw, and it was only the third round.Sofia Kenin, Serena Williams and Venus Williams all skipped the tournament with ailments, and stars like Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens, Danielle Collins and Jessica Pegula had already been eliminated.It was looking nearly as bad for Rogers, too. Trailing 2-5 in the third set to top-seeded Ashleigh Barty, Rogers completed a stirring comeback to the delight of the pro-American audience to score the biggest upset of the tournament, ousting the Australian 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5).Barty, the defending Wimbledon champion and winner of the 2019 French Open, has held the No. 1 spot in the WTA women’s rankings since Jan. 24, 2019 and had won five tournaments this year, including the Cincinnati event leading up to the U.S. Open. She went into Saturday’s match without losing a set in her first two encounters, and held a 5-0 advantage over Rogers.Barty was gracious after the loss, paying tribute to Rogers and saying she is prepared to move on knowing the year has been a success, over all.“You can’t win every single tennis match that you play,” she said. “I’m proud of myself and my team for all the efforts we’ve put in in the last six months. It’s been pretty incredible. I don’t think we could have asked for much more honestly. I wouldn’t change a thing.”Rogers was equally as effusive about Barty, noting that her opponent had not been home to Australia since February, in part to avoid complications and quarantines due to coronavirus travel restrictions.“She’s resetting on the road, she’s worked through some injuries on the road,” Rogers said. “She’s won five titles. She’s remained No. 1. I mean, this girl is everything every player wants to be.”With the home crowd behind her, Rogers, 28, won the first set easily. Perhaps Barty just needed waking up. It looked as if that might be the case when Barty cruised to an easy win in the second set and then went ahead, 5-2 in the third. Victory was only a few points away.“I think that game put some oxygen into her lungs,” Barty said.There were moments in that seventh game where Rogers’ body language suggested that defeat was imminent. She slumped when shots went astray, walked from one end of the court to the other after losing a point without much conviction and appeared under siege at one point. But it was Barty who would not hold her nerve. She made three unforced errors in that game to allow Rogers to break her serve, and grasp onto hope.Shelby Rogers of the United States after defeating Australia’s Ashleigh Barty on Saturday night.Ed Jones/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWith renewed energy derived in part from the supportive fans, Rogers held her serve and then broke Barty again. Generally, she prefers to strike balls firmly and close to the net, but Rogers recognized that Barty was having more trouble with high-bouncing balls, and began to rely on that tactic to push her advantage.“It’s not the way I like to play,” she said in an interview on court after the match, “But it was what I needed to do against her.”Barty was now the one under siege and served tenuously, trailing, 5-6. But at 40-30, Rogers mistimed an overhead slam and hit the ball into the net. They would go to a tiebreaker, and Rogers had the momentum.Even though it would remain close, Barty was playing more desperately and struggling to keep pace, while Rogers surged on a wave of adrenaline, now running back to her spot and pumping her fist to the fans.Most of the points Rogers won in the tiebreaker came off Barty’s mistakes as Rogers was content to keep pushing the ball back, often with a looping arc to it, and then waited for Barty to crack.The final point, though, came on a strong serve by Rogers that overwhelmed Barty, and her backhand block went wide. Rogers dropped her racket and put both hands to her face. She picked up the racket, went to the net to shake hands with Barty and the chair umpire, and then flung it to the side again and raised her arms to the crowd, half in triumph, half in disbelief.Her next opponent is the exciting British teenager, Emma Raducanu, in the fourth round.A year ago, when Rogers was still working her way back from knee surgery, she reached the quarterfinal stage here. She lost to Naomi Osaka, the eventual champion, in a stadium that was empty because of coronavirus restrictions. But fans are back in attendance at full capacity this year, and Rogers took advantage.“The crowd has taken it to another level this year,” she told them on court.“I’m thankful that I couldn’t hear myself breathing as heavily as I did last year in the empty stadium,” she said. “But, gosh, that was really something special. I got chills out there on the court. I don’t know if that’s normal when you’re playing a tennis match, but it happened. I will never forget that moment.” More