Thursday night was ladies' night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Fortunately for teens Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu, there was no 21-and-over policy at the door.
The unseeded upstarts crashed the 2021 US Open semifinal party, and sent their veteran opponents—Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari, respectively—crashing out with two impressive victories under the lights.
Earlier, Louis Armstrong Stadium played host to a pair of men's doubles semifinals and two wheelchair men's singles matches, as the US Open Wheelchair Competition presented by Deloitte got under way on Day 11. And after rain prevented play on the field courts for much of the day, singles quarterfinal action in the US Open Junior Championships wrapped up late in the evening.
Here's our look at Thursday's top stories from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Fernandez surges late, again: Time and again, Ashe got loud for Leylah as she completed the latest shock in her electric run. For the fourth straight match, the 19-year-old lit into seeded opposition in a third set. This time, her high voltage stunned the world No. 2 by a score of 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
Sabalenka, the veteran in this contest at 23 years of age, was in control early as she overpowered her diminuative opponent. But Fernandez fought back from 3-0 and 4-1 down, then saved a set point to force a tiebreak. The Canadian trailed early there, too, before winning seven of the last eight points to take it, 7-3.
Fernandez is now 5-0 in tiebreaks at the US Open, winning one in each of her last four outings.
The world No. 73 erased another early lead in the second, only for Sabalenka to reassert herself and level the match.
Set three was close-fought all the way, with a mid-set trade of breaks setting up a tense finale. In the end, Fernandez struck just two shots to earn the match-clinching break. Either side of two double faults, the Canadian drew two errors off roped returns. When the final ball sailed long, she collapsed to the floor in celebration.
In her post-match press conference, Fernandez was asked what was going through her mind at that moment.
"Nothing. Just a blank mind," she said after advancing to her first career Slam final. "I couldn't believe what was happening. A swarm of emotions just came in. I think I was relieved that the ball was out, glad that I fought so hard for two-plus hours, and that all the hard work is paying off and I'm in the finals."
Raducanu rolls into final: The only thing more surprising than the 18-year-old qualifier's romp into the final is the sheer domination with which she's done it. After a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sakkari, she's now dropped just 27 games in 12 main-draw sets.
After an ultra-competitive start against Sakkari, Raducanu nonetheless found herself up 3-0 in the first set after saving seven break points. She won a third deuce game to move to 5-0 before wrapping up the set. In set two, the teen scored an early break, and it took an inspired effort from the Greek just to keep things close. Sakkari saved seven break points of her own to hang in, but Raducanu never blinked on serve. A forehand swinging-volley winner was the last shot off her racquet, before she flung it to the floor in disbelief.
"I knew before the match I was going to have to play some of my best tennis if I wanted a chance," the first-time major finalist said in press. "Honestly I think I played some of my best tennis today, especially here in New York. I knew I was going to have to be super aggressive. I managed to execute... I'm just really happy with today's performance."
Raducanu is the first qualifier (man or woman) ever to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open era.
Men's doubles final set: The men's doubles final is set after a day's worth of action in Armstrong. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury won their fourth tiebreak of the tournament in a 7-6, 6-4 win over Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey. The No. 4 seeds are seeking their second career major title, after the 2020 Australian Open.
No tiebreaks were required in the second semi, but three sets were needed as Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares beat John Peers and Filip Polasek, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Seeded seventh, Murray and Soares have a chance to win their second US Open title as a pair; they won both the Australian Open and US Open titles in 2016.
Wheelchair winners: Through the rain clouds, the top seeds in the wheelchair tournament shined. Thursday's winners include men's top seed Shingo Kunieda and Gordon Reid, who won in Armstrong, and women's top seed Diede de Groot. The doubles and quad events begin on Friday.
A tale of two top junior seeds: American Robin Montgomery is through to her first junior Slam semi, after she bounced top seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, 6-3, 6-2. She'll face the unseeded Solana Sierra in the semis. Boys' singles No. 1 seed Juncheng "Jerry" Shang also advanced after the rain.
As it Happened: Relive Day 11 with our blog, Live at the Open.
Tweet of the Day: A meeting of tennis icons: Billie Jean King and members of the Original Nine congratulated Leylah Fernandez after her semifinal win.
Photo of the Day: Bruno Soares' son storms the court after his father and Jamie Murray won their men's doubles semifinal.
