Two teenage Asian tennis players have advanced to the US Open quarterfinals.
Emma Raducanu, 18, and Leylah Fernandez, 19, are through to the quarterfinals.
Fernandez, whose mother is Filipina, caught the tennis world’s attention when she defeated Naomi Osaka in the third round. The Canadian tennis star was unranked in the tournament, while Osaka was ranked third.
The 19-year-old upset the no.16 seed, Angelique Kerber, in the round of 16 on Sunday. She beat Kerber in three sets. She said her family helped keep her grounded and focused on the round of 16 match after the excitement surrounding her third-round defeat of Osaka.
“You still have Angie Kerber. She’s a multiple Grand Slam champion and she’s a fighter,” Fernandez recalled her family saying, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Unranked Raducanu, whose mother is Chinese, faced unranked American Shelby Rogers in her round of 16 match. The teenage British tennis star defeated the American in straight sets on Monday.
Virginia Wade, the last British woman to win a major tennis tournament, watched as Radacanu played her way into the quarterfinals.
“She is going to win Grand Slams, for sure,” Wade told ESPN after the match.
Raducanu will face no. 11 seed Belinda Bencic on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. She told ESPN she feels confident heading into the match, but knows it will be extremely difficult.
“If I’m going to have a chance, I’m going to have to play some really good tennis,” she told ESPN.
Leylah Fernandez will face the no. 5 seed, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, today at 11:00 a.m. PST.
“That’s going to be a tough match. She’s a fighter. She returns a lot of balls,” Fernandez told The Los Angeles Times. “I’m just going to go on court and have fun, just like I’ve been doing the past few days, and see how it goes.”
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