What Aryna Sabalenka said about Leylah Fernandez after losing to her at the US Open looks very smart now

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The 2021 US Open proved to be all about the underdogs, with Emma Raducanu defeating Leylah Fernandez in a final between two of the game’s rising stars.

Raducanu has failed to build on her glory at Flushing Meadows, with the youngster suffering terribly with injury issues and now striving for consistency.

Likewise, Fernandez, who was 19 at the time and a year older than her opponent in the final, is also still trying to showcase her full potential after that run in New York.

Fernandez won the Japan Women’s Open over the weekend and at the China Open previously, she gave Coco Gauff a real run for her money before losing in three.

Right now, Fernandez is remembered for that famous night at the US Open, however, and whilst Raducanu didn’t play a top 10 player throughout the tournament, the same can’t be said about the Canadian, who drew Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal.

After losing out, the Belarusian made a claim about Fernandez that now looks like a very clever one indeed.

• READ MORE: Coco Gauff admits the mistake she made against Leylah Fernandez

What Aryna Sabalenka said about Leylah Fernandez after losing US Open semifinal in 2021

Sabalenka was the heavy favourite back in 2021 at the US Open, with the player going into the tournament as the number two seed and watching a number of other seeds crumble around her.

When she came up against Fernandez, it was anticipated that a procession into the final could take place, but the Canadian upset the odds and sent Sabalenka crashing out.

Sabalenka was criticised for some comments about Gauff after the French Open final this year and once again, she had her heart on her sleeve when discussing Fernandez in 2021.

She said: “I would say that she’s – I don’t know. Seems like in these two weeks, everything is working well for her. Like this is nothing to lose. People are here supporting her like she’s kind of on top of the situation. She’s staying, like, on the baseline, hitting, I would say, sometimes crazy shots and everything is going in. I would say, like, everything is going her way, yeah.

“But she’s really aggressive, and she’s staying on the baseline, hitting the ball, taking the ball pretty early, making you move so you would always be out of the position. Today I couldn’t make her move as I wanted, yeah.

Now, there is no pressure on her at all. The crowd are here for her. You kind of feel this crush and you’re using it, hitting the ball, don’t really thinking, everything is going in. This is a nice kind of feeling. I felt it before. This is cool.

“But the question is, when you will start to understand what’s going on and where you are, how good can you deal with all these expectations and all this level, all this pressure.

“For now, she’s playing well. It was a tight match. I was doing everything. I can say that I gave it all today. Of course, I could do better. Of course, I had a lot of opportunities. But it is how it is. I have to learn from this and move on.

“But yeah, now she’s like a top-10 player. We’ll see how good she will be in the future.”

Fernandez still fighting to prove full potential

Much like Raducanu, that run at the US Open is still as good as it’s got for Fernandez and the difference is that nobody can ever take the title away from the Great British performer.

Fernandez will be desperate to ensure that she doesn’t become a one-hit wonder when it comes to the major tournaments, and she will hope to climb back up the rankings as she develops.

All is not yet lost for Fernandez. She has finished 2025 with a bit of a flourish by winning a fifth career title and at 23, she has bags of time to keep improving her skills.

The next 12 months or so could be massive for Fernandez and she will hope to one day prove Sabalenka wrong when it comes to her being able to handle the pressure should she ever make the top 10 on the WTA Tour.