The first tipper on the baseline, the next three in the field, then it hits – except in front of important points, there can be a total of five tippers. If she wins a rally on the opponent’s serve, she stares at the wall behind her, taps a little and practices forehand and backhand; after losing points, she prefers to leave the swings.
People in New York are really talking about such details in Leylah Fernandez’s play; nobody could have guessed that the Canadian, who has just celebrated her 19th birthday, would reach the semifinals of the US Open with three-set victories against Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka (Japan) and Elina Switolina (Ukraine). Now you want to know everything, including the neurotic peculiarities that many tennis professionals have.
The favorites before the tournament: Osaka, of course. Ash Barty (Australia) and Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic), maybe also Olympic champion Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) and the form-strong Kerber. After the first week there was talk of Sloane Stephens (USA) and Garbine Muguruza (Spain); only one eluded all the nose for the possible tournament winner, as if she were Jean-Baptiste Grenouille from the novel “Perfume” by Patrick Süskind – it has no odor of its own and is therefore hardly noticed. Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) is probably the most underrated runner-up in the history of a Grand Slam tournament; even before this semi-final against Fernandez this Thursday, it is hardly registered, which is also reflected in the fixings.
Sabalenka was often the one who was recognized with approval, but who was no longer there when it came to winning the tournament
So far she has played three games in Louis Armstrong Stadium completed, the second largest arena on the facility, one on the Grandstand; only in the quarterfinals, which she easily won 6: 1, 6: 4 against Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic), she was allowed to go into Arthur Ashe Stadium. “Oh, it’s so nice here – especially in the evening with so many fans,” she said afterwards. For comparison: Daniil Medvedev (Russia), who came in second place among men, has already played four times in the world’s largest tennis arena. It has nothing to do with sexism, there were just as many women as men games; but it says a lot about how people perceive Aryna Sabalenka.
The focus of the talks: The Canadian Leylah Fernandez.
(Photo: ELSA / AFP)
She is only 23 years old, and yet you get the feeling that she has been involved in women’s tennis for ages. That’s right, she’s been on the professional tour for six years; In the past three, she was often the one who was recognized in the first week at major tournaments (like Fernandez or the British Emma Raducanu now), but who (unlike Fernandez and Raducanu now) was no longer there when it came down to it the tournament victory went – their placement in the rankings at the end of the last three years: eleven, ten, eleven. Close and yet far away, and maybe you have to study statistics to understand why she triumphed in Abu Dhabi and Madrid this year, as well as reached the final at Wimbledon.
She has always shaped rallies as quickly as possible; her serve regularly approaches the 200 km / h mark – a rarity in women’s tennis – her aggressive return is supposed to put the opponent under pressure, especially on her second serve. A Sabalenka rally is over quickly; But especially against strong, experienced opponents, she was more often the loser, because they knew: Keep the ball in play, Sabalenka gets impatient at some point and hits the ball into the net or out. She still plays aggressively and quickly, but only at 95 percent of the speed and thus more precisely and with fewer errors. So, instead of beating it all up: hit it, hit it again – and then it is over.
In a duel of opposing philosophies, the one who manages to impose his own style of play on the other should win
She still wants to finish points as quickly as possible (a Sabalenka rally at this US Open only takes 3.11 strokes on average), and her games should also be over quickly. So far, she only had a slack in the second set in the first round against Nina Stojanovic (Serbia), otherwise none of her games lasted longer than 90 minutes – that’s exactly why this semi-final against Fernandez is so exciting.
The Canadian is the A topic of conversation on the system – because of their wonderfully crazy neuroses, but above all because of their way of playing. In the event of a setback, she first tries not to make a mistake; she works her way into rallies, makes the opponent run with cross hits at sharp angles, carefully takes control – and only tries the winning shot when she feels confident or there is no other option. This leads to longer games (none lasted less than 105 minutes) – and now to the meeting of different philosophies. Those who manage to impose their own style of play on the other should win; in the entire match, but especially in the decisive rallies.
Anyone walking across the facility just a few minutes after Sabalenka’s quarter-final victory noticed that someone was still practicing on training place five. It was Sabalenka who let herself be sent back and forth on the baseline. Back and forth, again and again, until exhaustion. Get rid of a little energy, she said later, but it looked like how many rallies against Fernandez should be. At the end of the session she was practicing returns, and it was definitely a coincidence, but: Her training partner tapped the ball exactly four times before serving.