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If there’s a player out there that you’ve never seen lose a match because she got tired, or found herself overcome by heat and humidity, it was Leylah Fernandez.
The dubious but clearly effective “Navy Seal” type training enforced by father/coach Jorge probably has something to do with that.
So if Fernandez was starting to cramp up on Friday afternoon on an unspeakably hot and humid day in Washington, D.C. – which it appeared she was during a long game when opponent Taylor Townsend was serving for the second set at 5-4 – you know it was bad.
But Fernandez got through, somehow, 6-4, 7-6 (4) against Townsend and will face No. 4 seed Clara Tauson in Saturday’s semifinal.
It’s her first WTA semifinal since the Hong Kong Open last November.
It’s hard to know if the media at her mixed-zone interview asked if she was cramping (it’s hard to know if they were even out watching), but here’s the answer she gave.
“It was definitely an adventure. I think this was the first time I have had to go through this, and for myself I’m proud that I was able to stay mentally tough and just kind of hear the crowd cheering me on, hear my team telling me to keep points, keep going, keep fighting. It was definitely an adventure for myself,” she said.
At first, it appeared Fernandez might have gone over on her ankle, tripping twice right after saving a Townsend set point.
On the eighth break point (Fernandez broke five times in all, in 24 opportunities), she converted.
After holding for 6-5 in that second set, Fernandez lay a towel on the court and just laid down on it, and tried to stretch out her calves. She didn’t call for the trainer, who was waiting at the entrance to the court.
After most of the following points, she would go to the back of the court and stretch out both calves, although when she had to sprint, she did so effectively.
Once it was done, she did her customary wave, went over to three men sitting in the front row, threw some towels to the fans, limped back to her chair – and then lay right back down on the court.
The court attendants were changing the net over to the ATP net just a few feet away. But she was undeterred.
The livestream cut off. But the medical staff did come out to attend to her, finally.
The 10-minute heat rule was in effect for the women – not that 10 minutes indoors and having to come back out into the cauldron is going to do a lot of good.
It was rough.
An earlier match between Maria Sakkari and Emma Raducanu looked like this on the changeovers.
“I think I would like to say I’m pretty good in the heat, for the most part, but I was really struggling today. It was one of the toughest matches conditions-wise I have ever played in. I don’t know. Those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly (smiling). Yeah, I’m just happy I could close it out and it was two sets,” Raducanu said afterwards. “I was also thinking if this goes to three sets, I don’t know how I’m going to do it (smiling). So just happy I toughed it out.”
Fernandez said she was trying to think positive, had there been a third set.
“I would like to think I would have gone through it, but you never really know. Sometimes the body will just tell you, ‘This is it’, it can’t go on. For me, I like to think positively. I have been training very hard physically. I have gone through some of the toughest trainings, not only the past years but also when I first started playing tennis, pushing the limits,” she said. “So I’d like to think that maybe in the third set I would have found a way. I would have maybe played it ugly, so find a way to get through the finish line.”
Fernandez will be first up against Tauson. After that, Raducanu will play No. 3 seed and this week’s doubles partner, Elena Rybakina.
The two took to the court shortly before 9 p.m. last night to play their semifinal against Townsend and Zhang Shuai. But down 1-4, they retired with Raducanu citing a headache.
(Yes, we’ll point out here that two of the men’s quarterfinals matches got night-session treatment).
High temperature on Saturday is expected to be 33C, slightly below Friday. But the high humidity is expected to be the same.
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