Wild Card Run Ends for Williams and Fernandez

Williams and Fernandez after losing their match today

The US Open run for Montreal's Leylah Fernandez and American tennis champion Venus Williams is sadly over, after they were soundly defeated by top seeded American Taylor Townsend and her Czech Republic partner Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-2 in a 57-minute match in the quarterfinals.

Nevertheless, it was still a win for both Fernandez and Williams, who have a mutual admiration for each other.

"I was so inspired by Leylah," Williams said. "I really got so much confidence playing with her, having an opportunity to play more matches in the doubles, and it was just an amazing experience to be able to do that."

The wild card pair enjoyed their time on the court 

For Fernandez, it was a thrill to play with her tennis idol, and a reminder of why she pursued the sport.

"The most important thing is that I started playing tennis for the love of the game and for bringing joy on court, not only for myself but also for the fans."

But wait -- the run for Canadian women in doubles is not over yet.

Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and New Zealander Erin Routliffe are getting closer to possibly clinching a second US Open women's doubles title.

The third seeds had a shaky start but eventually defeated 11th-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Brazil's Luisa Stefani 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.