Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez, ranked 73rd in the world, knew that she had the ability to upset defending champion Naomi Osaka and she did just that on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the third round of the US Open, 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4.
We were aware that the upset was looming here. Fernandez is a tricky lefty and Osaka has struggled against left-handers lately, having also lost her last two matches to them — to Marketa Vondrousova and Jil Teichmann on hard courts.
Moreover, Osaka is lacking match play, as she withdrew from Roland Garros early, then skipped Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics, while even this week in New York she received one walkover.