There was not one, but two stunning upsets on Friday in the third round at the 2020 United States Open in Flushing Meadows, New York. First in men’s action, 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz of Spain defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 0-6, 7-6. Then in women’s action, 18-year-old Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada defeated Naomi Osaka of Japan 5-7, 7-6, 6-4. The upsets mean that both third seeds in the men’s and women’s singles draws from the 2021 United States Open have been eliminated.
Alacaraz, who is 55th in the world, beat Tsitsipas, the 2020 French Open finalist, in a five-set thriller. What was most fascinating about Alacaraz’s win was the fact that he won the fifth set after being bageled in the fourth set, when it seemed that Tsitsipas had all of the momentum at the time. Alcaraz had 61 aces compared to 47 for Tsitsipas, while Tsitsipas only won 48% of his points on the second serve.
Fernandez meanwhile is 73rd in the world. The major reason for her victory came down to unforced errors. Osaka, who was the defending U.S. Open champion, had 36, while Fernandez only had 24. Osaka was in fact serving for the match at 7-5, 6-5, when she had an extremely sloppy service game, which was filled with unforced errors. The unforced errors escalated again in the second set tiebreaker, which Fernandez dominated in winning 7-2.
This is the second significant win in Fernandez’s tennis career. In 2020 before coronavirus struck, the young Canadian upset the Tokyo Olympic champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6 in FedCup action. Earlier this year, Fernandez won her first WTA event when she beat Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-4, in the final of the Monterrey Open in Mexico. Alcaraz has an ATP title to his credit too, as he beat Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Croatia Open.
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