Flushing, New York | Leylah Fernandez and Venus Williams have not finished turning heads to the US Open. With the same smiles, the same energy and the same ardor as in its first match, the improbable duo reached the third round of the female double painting on Saturday.
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Fernandez and Williams, whom 23 years old separates, made Japanese Eri Hozumi and the Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri 7-6 (1) and 6-1 fall on the courtyard of the large Louis-Armstrong stadium, where their match had been moved for a second time.
A question of schedule, but the enthusiasm for the pair does not bother either. Yes, there were empty seats among the 14,000 installed in the enclosure, but the occupancy rate had nothing to envy that of a single match, either.
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Because there came, of course, from the height of 45 years. A tennis legend, with seven major titles in simple, but also 14 in female double, even if it launched on Thursday that it was not “good in double”, even if “nobody believes it”.
Happy and … good!
But also because together, the Canadian-American pair is entertaining at will. Not only do the two players seem like a mother and her daughter -from the top of her 6 ft 1 in, who came exceeded Leylah from seven inch -, but they have fun and are competitive at will.
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For a second match in a row, Williams and Fernandez shot from the back by a breakage, in the initial set. They finally won him in equality, as was the case at their first outing.
They are good, too. Immediately, they knew how to create chemistry, even if they had struck bullets together only once, on the morning of their first match. “I think we are both very aggressive, pointed out the former world number 1, at a press conference. We like to go forward, control the point. We have similar states of mind, a similar attitude. ”
“It helps us to go in the same direction,” she continued, to which Fernandez immediately nodded. “We don’t have to talk to each other much on the field. Everything flows, ”raised the original Lavalloise.
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Don’t get too attached
And now here they are in the third round, when they decided to unite their journeys in New York last Monday, only.
Don’t get too attached, however. The chances are slim to see the sympathetic duo again in the next tournaments, Williams no longer wishing to travel Overseas to play, she who returns from a long break of 16 months, taken to treat injuries.
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“If she can convince me to start on the road, of course [que je jouerai encore avec elle]launched Venus. But I don’t know what could convince me of that. I love Asia, Australia, but it’s so far … “
“Where do you play after?” Then asked Williams to Fernandez.
“I don’t know,” replied the Quebecer. It still seems far away in time. ”
“We are going to need internally discussions,” smiled the big champion.
