New York (AP) — Emma Raducanu first met Leylah Fernandez in a tournament for players under the age of 12. Around that time, one of Fernandez’s teachers urged her to give up her tennis dream.
They shared their love for the game and their connection to Canada, where Fernandez lived and Raducanu was born, and helped build a quick relationship. But teenagers have much more in common — perhaps more than they thought.
They captivate the audience on the final Saturday of the US Open women, far beyond the fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Leila’s father and coach Jorge Fernandez said:
People are watching in Asia. The 18-year-old Raducanu’s mother is from China, and the 19-year-old Fernandez’s mother is Filipino-Canadian.
And in Latin America: Jorge Fernandez is from Ecuador.
And in Europe: Raducanu’s father is from Romania.
And of course, in Canada, Fernandez was born in Montreal (although she has been based in Florida for several years). Raducanu was born in Toronto and still has a passport for that country (her family moved to England at the age of two).
Besides being great tennis players, these teenagers are citizens of the world.
Jorge Fernandez, who answered the question in English, Spanish and French in a Zoom interview on Friday, said:
Leylah Annie Fernandez was relatively unknown in the Philippines and Ecuador before defeating defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round. Since then, she has received a lot of attention from the local media in both countries, referring to her family’s roots.
Char Abalos was one of the fans who woke up early Friday in Manila to see Fernandez defeat the second Aryna Sabalenka in a semifinal match in New York on Thursday night.
“She looks very calm, but at the same time cheerful on the court,” said Abalos, who often frowns quickly. “Layla is very calm and just makes sure the crowd is having fun.”
The newcomer to tennis on Saturday is very similar to last year’s US Open champion. Osaka was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, and the family moved to New York at an early age.
Tennis has also moved this year’s finalists. In the case of Fernandez, the mother moved to California to support her family while Leila and her father stayed in Canada for training.
Currently they live together in Florida. I stayed there for the past two weeks while Jorge Fernandez coached from a distance via a telephone conversation. He recently noticed a message of encouragement that included tweets from Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Leylah Fernandez did not always have such support.
She remembers being in 5th or 6th grade and being advised to stop spending a lot of time on the backhand and pay more attention to the blackboard.
“I remember one teacher. It was really fun. It wasn’t at the time, but now I’m laughing,” Fernandez said. “She told me to stop playing tennis.’You will never play tennis, you will just focus on school.'”
Instead, her family digs deeper and Jorge Fernandez remembers that her daughter won the tournament in 12 featuring a 16-year-old player. Perhaps they are ready for a US Open draw featuring three top five players.
After defeating all three sets, including Osaka, her opponent is Raducanu, who wasn’t in the Top 350 a few months ago. Also, she wasn’t even guaranteed to play at the US Open a few weeks ago and had to take part in the main draw throughout the qualifying round.
She is the first qualifier to reach the Grand Slam final. Raducanu defeated Fernandez in the 2018 Junior Wimbledon tournament, but their skills and fans have just grown.
“Obviously since then we’ve come a long way both in the game and as humans,” said Raducanu. “I’m sure it will be very different from when we last met.”
The conference is the first Grand Slam final among teens since the 1999 US Open, when Serena Williams, 17, defeated Martina Hingis, 18.
After Bianca Andreesque defeated Williams to win the 2019 title, Fernandez is about to give Canada his second 19-year-old champion for the first time in three years.
If the match felt like a change of women’s tennis guards, Saturday’s final would seem like another speed-up version of pitching players born two months apart in 2002.
Raducanu still remembers seeing the finals of the 2011 French Open. Li Na won the Grand Slam singles title for the first time in Asia in a match watched by more than 115 million people in China.
“For me, I have a Chinese mom, so I’m sure she was taught by her youthful diligence and discipline,” Raducanu said. “For me, I think I got a lot of inspiration from Li Na when I was young, just as she was a very fierce competitor.”
Jorge Fernandez believes that his wife’s influence brings the same fighting spirit to his daughter’s game.
“She has Filipino blood in her,” he said. “beautiful.”
Pursuing tennis success from the other side of the Atlantic, Fernandez and La Ducanu had difficulty maintaining the relationship that began when they united across Canadian roots during a tournament in Florida.
Raducanu said he would greet each other every time he met. On Saturday, they can do it by standing across the net with each other at the largest stadium in the sport.
“I’m sure there’s a good atmosphere for both of us,” said Raducanu.
The world is watching.
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The Associated Press writer Kiko Rosario in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.
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Other AP Tennis: https: //apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Global Citizens, US Open Teen Finalists Have Fans Around The World | WGN Radio 720
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