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Rising Canadian star Leylah Annie Fernandez insists her belief has always been that he could beat anyone and that showed on Friday night when she stunned No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka at the US Open. Fernandez, ranked at No. 73 in the world, was on the verge of suffering a straight-set loss to Osaka but she recovered to stun the Japanese 5-7 7-6 (2) 6-4.
"From a very young age, I knew I was able to beat anyone who is in front of me. I was always that competitive, saying I'm going to win against my dad in soccer, even though that's impossible," Fernandez claimed after beating Osaka, per WTA Insider.
"I guess today that belief came true”. For the first time since winning Monterrey in March, Fernandez has managed to win three matches in a row. "I don't know why finally my game is clicking. The past few months, even after Monterrey, I've been working hard, training super well.
My coach, my dad, is saying be patient, have confidence in your game, it will show in matches. I'm glad it finally did," Fernandez insisted.
Fernandez showed great mental strength against Osaka
Osaka claimed the first break of the match in the 11th game, before serving out to love the following game to win a tight decider.
After losing a tight first set, Fernandez regrouped and started serving well again but Osaka again managed to get a break in the 11th game. However, this time, Fernandez kept her focus and broke back Osaka in the 12th game to force a second-set tie-break.
After failing to serve out for the match, Osaka lost the opening five points of the tie-break as Fernandez realized her second set point to force a decider. Osaka was still in shock at the start of the third set and Fernandez made the most out of it as she broke the Japanese in the opening game of the set.
Fernandez then didn't allow Osaka a single break point in the rest of the match to complete a major comeback win.