Signs of Leylah Fernandez’s prodigious talent have been apparent for some time, and there were more of them on Friday as she continued her march through the draw at Roland Garros.
For just the second time in her burgeoning career, the Canadian teenager progressed to the second week of a Grand Slam tournament, after an absorbing 7-5 3-6 7-5 triumph over 14th seed Belinda Bencic.
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The first time came at last year’s US Open, an unforgettable run that saw Fernandez overcome, in succession, Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka to reach the final.
She has since cracked the top 20 and won a WTA title earlier this season in Monterrey, but Fernandez admitted to experiencing “ups and downs” since exploding onto the scene eight months ago in New York.
“I think after the US Open … I did put a little bit more pressure on myself. That's normal, because I want to reproduce what I did in the US Open over and over again,” said Fernandez, the 2019 junior champion at Roland Garros.
“I think after the first few tournaments, I accepted that I will not be playing the same way every single time. I will just have to find solutions and keep working hard.
“Over the course of the year I have just been sticking to that, just putting my head down and just grinding it out every day.
“I'm just glad that this week I have been showing some good tennis, and I have been just improving.”
That ability to grind was on show against reigning Olympic champion Bencic in a match spanning almost three hours on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Fernandez weathered a storm of 42 winners from the aggressive Swiss, who at the same time kept her unforced errors to a tidy 18, a ratio that would normally suggest a victorious player. Bencic also served for the opening set – she earned two set points at 5-4, 40-15 – and led 2-0 in the third.
But she could not close out Fernandez, who forced 60 errors from Bencic’s racquet and served out the match to love on her second attempt.
There were signs, deep in the third set as Fernandez drew closer to a place in the last 16, of the big-match instincts and penchant for tapping into the crowd’s energy and support that defined her US Open run.
“Yes, of course there are parallels,” she said during the French-language portion of her press conference.
“At the beginning of the tournament it was a bit difficult with my emotions, like in New York, but I'm happy I was able to go through the two first rounds and today, to have fun on the court like against Naomi.”
Speaking of Osaka, she was eliminated in the opening round by Amanda Anisimova, whom Fernandez next faces for a place in the quarterfinals.
Fernandez and Anisimova, plus Coco Gauff – another winner on Friday in Paris – form part of a young troupe who are more regularly making an impact on the biggest stages.
Also in that cohort are world No.1 Iga Swiatek, and Chinese teen Zheng Qinwen, who will attempt to join Fernandez, Anisimova and Gauff in the fourth round on Saturday.
“I think it's great for the sport,” Fernandez said. “We can bring in more the younger fans into tennis, just enjoying the matches. Hopefully they can pick up a tennis racquet.
“I think it's just great to see that all of us, we are improving every year and that we keep playing against the best players in the world here and we can keep our own.
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“Amanda is a great player. She's been at this stage for like a few times, actually. She's been deep into tournaments a lot this year, so I know she's going to be a tough player.
“Hopefully I can play a good game and put on a good show for the fans.”
Currently ranked 18th, Fernandez has so far eliminated three experienced campaigners – Bencic, Katerina Siniakova and Kristina Mladenovic – from the tournament.
She has improved her season win-loss record to 15-7 and could crack the top 15 with victory over Anisimova; she is already projected to rise to a career-high mark of world No.16 in the next rankings release.
Still yet to turn 20 – that will happen during the US Open in September – and playing in only her third full season on tour, Fernandez believes she still has plenty of space in which to develop and improve.
We could see more of that growth this fortnight in Paris.
“I think today (against Bencic) I was just trusting my game when it mattered the most, and I'm just glad that I was able to trust it enough for me to keep going,” she said.
“Every match is a learning experience; the wins, and especially the losses. I have lost a lot of matches to get here.
“I think it's just the ability to keep learning from every match that we have, that that helps me put in a position where I can say that I'll just need to trust my game and just fight for every point.”