Leylah Annie Fernandez and Denis Shapovalov had the tall task of upsetting an American No. 1, on home soil, in order to keep Canadian hopes alive at the US Open. Unfortunately for the Canucks, they both fell following a hard-fought round-three battle.
History nearly repeated itself for Fernandez on Friday at the US Open. Five years after upsetting world No. 3 Naomi Osaka in the third round of the year's final major, the Lavalloise was a set away from once again taking out the third seed in the third round in New York.
But Jessica Pegula fought back, denying the Lavalloise of a major upset in three sets. It is the second year in a row that Fernandez exited the US Open in the third round. She has not reached the last sixteen since that 2021 finals run.
It was all Fernandez early on as the Canadian raced through the opening set. But Pegula was able to overcome the early sluggishness, finding her game as the match went along to claim a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
The American went big throughout the match and while she had trouble finding the mark early, her aggression paid off in the end. She finished the match with twice as many winners, 26 to Fernandez's 13, although she also had more unforced errors with 29 to her opponent's 25. The Canadian will be left regretting a mere three of 11 break-point chances converted, while Pegula was a perfect three-for-three.
Fernandez came out ready to go but her opponent seemingly didn't. Pegula could not find the court early on and gifted the Canadian a break in her opening service game with a slew of unforced errors. The American did not show signs of life until she was down 0-3, 0-30 on her own serve, fighting back for her first hold of the day.
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That was all Fernandez allowed her, though. The Canadian was keeping the ball deep, making things uncomfortable for Pegula and the world No. 3 was cracking constantly. Fernandez broke to love to go up 5-1 before holding to wrap up the opening set in just half an hour.
While Pegula cleaned up her game early in the second, Fernandez still had a chance to pull away with a break chance in the fifth game. However, she netted her forehand and then was broken for the first time in the following game as the American moved ahead 4-2.
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Still, Fernandez was not letting the world No. 3 get comfortable. Pegula had to battle to consolidate the break, saving four break points in the following game to go up 5-2. Serving for the set, though, she blinked. The Canadian had a couple of chances to get back on serve and, after going up 40-AD with a backhand winner up the line, Pegula netted a forehand to let Fernandez back in it.
However, the Lavalloise was unable to draw even. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, she found herself down double set point at 15-40 and netted her backhand to send the match to a deciding set.
Once again, Fernandez had the first chance to break in the third set but was unable to convert, missing both returns at 15-40 in the third game. She immediately paid the price, missing back-to-back forehands to go down 15-40 on her own serve in the next game and then put a backhand wide to fall behind a break in the decider.
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That was enough for the world No. 3. Pegula did not face a break point the rest of the way, riding that lone break to victory.
Fernandez was the only Canadian woman in the singles draw. She is still competing in doubles with Janice Tjen.
Shapovalov Loses to Shelton in Late-Night Battle
Denis Shapovalov entered his third-round contest as the lone Canadian remaining in singles, but the 27-year-old from Richmond Hill couldn’t build off his 50th Grand Slam match win, falling to American No. 1 Ben Shelton by a score of 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 on Friday.
The Canadian No. 2 was broken six times on 11 attempts on the night, three which came in his opening service game of the set. Shapovalov was able to equalize once, breaking Shelton four times total, but couldn’t hold a break point in the final two sets as his US Open run ended at nearly 2:00 a.m. in New York.
Shapovalov kept the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd at bay through the early stages of the opening set. The Canadian broke in the third game and backed up the loss of serve to go 3-1 in front. The 27-year-old then had a great chance to add to his lead with triple break point at 2-4, love-40, but Shelton won the next five balls to hold.
At that point, the American No. 1 grew into the match. The 23-year-old made no mistake on return at 4-3, love-40, breaking on the second try to level the opener. Shelton was broken back, allowing Shapovalov to serve for the set, but a double fault at 5-4, 30-40, extended the first.
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In the eventual tiebreaker, the Canuck dropped two of his first three service points as he trailed 1-5 at the changeover. Shapovalov’s efforts helped save one set point at 6-2, but Shelton closed out the opener in the ensuing rally.
The roles were reversed in the second. Shapovalov lost serve in the opening game as the Richmond Hillian had to play catch up in the set. Shelton strung together three-straight service holds, soon gaining the opportunity to serve out the set at 5-4, but Shapovalov managed to break.
However, Shelton got a second chance after breaking back, but again, the Canadian broke on the first try at 6-5, 15-40, to force another tiebreaker.
Each player remained perfect on serve until Shapovalov scored the first mini-break at the ideal time, stealing the point at 5-5 and allowing him to close out the set on his delivery. The former world No. 10 fired one of his eight aces on the night to even the contest.
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Unfortunately for Shapovalov, he couldn’t recover from an early break the rest of the way. The Canuck was broken in his opening service game of both the third and fourth set, and was unable to find anything on Shelton’s delivery. The American only lost nine points on his first serve across the final two sets and didn’t face a single break point.
Shelton held at love when serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth, extending his unbeaten run against Shapovalov to five matches.
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Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
