CLEVELAND – There were some eyebrows raised when Leylah Fernandez opted to squeeze in one more tournament instead of resting for next week’s U.S. Open.
After all, the 21-year-old tennis ace from Laval, Que., was coming off a remarkable but exhausting performance in last week’s Cincinnati Open, where she reached the women’s singles quarterfinals, and lost in a tough women’s doubles final with partner Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Seeded second at the Tennis in the Land WTA 250 tournament in Cleveland, Fernandez jumped out to an impressive start in her opening-round singles match on Tuesday. But after bouncing Ana Bogdan of Romania 6-1 in the 30-minute first set, the wheels fell off the Canadian’s game. She lost the next two sets 7-6 and 6-2 and was eliminated by her 103rd-ranked rival.
Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada serves to Ashlyn Krueger of the USA at the National Bank Open in Toronto on Thursday August 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Bogdan finished with four aces, no double faults and went seven of 17 saving break points. Fernandez had three aces, 11 double faults and won seven of eight break points in the two-hour, 34-minute match.
Fernandez and her sister Bianca then lost to Brazil’s Ingrid Martins and American Quinn Gleason in a round-of-16 women’s doubles match on Tuesday night. Martins and Gleason won 6-4, 6-3 in 71 minutes.
Elsewhere, Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., lost 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 to Switzerland’s Celine Naef in the first round of U.S. Open qualifying. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino beat Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium 6-2, 6-3 in a Tuesday night qualifier, and will play Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2024.
