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.