It’s been feeling like New York all over again for Leylah Fernandez, but some parts felt like Stade de France as the Canadian teen survived pre-tournament darkhorse Amanda Anisimova, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach her first Roland Garros quarterfinal.
Having first outlasted Belinda Bencic in three sets to reach the second week, the 2021 US Open finalist played her second grueling match under the watchful eye of football legend Thierry Henry, and was asked about it after the match:
Q. Last night the Champions League final. Madrid comes through. Today Thierry Henry is out there watching you play and giving you a standing ovation. What has your reaction been to the football relation with respect to you over the last 24 hours?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I was very, very disappointed I wasn't able to watch the game live or even just on TV. I had to go to bed early.
But, you know, when I like saw the news that Real Madrid won, I was just so happy, because we've been following the team for a while now, took a little hiatus, but then afterwards when we saw that they are doing things well, we were just so happy for them. Then afterwards seeing that Thierry Henry was also in the stands, enjoying the tennis match, like I said, that's one of my goals so that people can enjoy the tennis game.
To see him do a standing ovation for our match is just an incredible feeling and hopefully I can reproduce that level again and we can just all enjoy our time on the tennis court.
