Leylah Fernandez rides superior serve at US Open to 1st-round victory - CBC.ca

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez have advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open in New York.

Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., moved on with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over on Croatia's Ana Konjuh on Monday.

Later, Montreal's Auger-Aliassime, seeded 12th in the men's draw, won three tiebreaks in a 7-6 (0), 3-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (8) win over Russia's Evgeny Donskoy.

Fernandez was more opportunistic and more accurate than her first-round opponent.

She was good on 76 per cent of her first serves, winning 65 per cent of those available points.

Konjuh was accurate on just 63 per cent of her first serves. While she slightly outpaced Fernandez by winning 68 per cent of first serve points, she won just 35 per cent of second serve points, compared to 47 per cent for Fernandez.

WATCH | Fernandez posts straight-sets win over Konjuh in Round 1:

Laval's Leylah Annie Fernandez forges ahead into U.S. Open 2nd round

5 hours ago

Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval, Que., advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Ana Konjuh of Croatia. 3:11

Konjuh also committed 10 double faults, compared to just three for her opponent.

Fernandez made the most of her break-point chances, converting four of her seven opportunities. Konjuh had 10 break point chances against Fernandez but was only good on two.

4-hour match ends on missed backhand

Fernandez next faces Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. It will be the first meeting between the players.

WATCH | Fernandez bows out in 2nd round of Olympic tourney:

Leylah Annie Fernandez falls to Barbora Krejcikova at Tokyo 2020

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Leylah Annie Fernandez is eliminated in the second round after a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova. 2:09

Vancouver's Rebecca Marino faced fifth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine later Monday.

Auger-Aliassime was down 8-7 in the tiebreak with Donskoy serving, but the 21-year-old Montrealer shifted momentum in the set with a pair of receiving points.

Auger-Aliassime completed the four-hour marathon by converting his first match point chance when Donskoy missed on a backhand.

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime notches 14 aces in 4-set win:

Felix Auger-Aliassime survives U.S. Open 1st round 4-hour marathon

3 hours ago

Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime outlasted Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy 7-6(0), 3-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(8) to advance to the second round of the U.S. Open. 3:55

The Canadian fired 14 aces in the match to Donskoy's eight, but also had seven double faults to Donskoy's one.

Auger-Aliassime was effective when accurate. While he was good on just 59 per cent of his first serves, he picked up 83 per cent of those available points.

Donskoy saved four of the five break points he faced, while converting two of three break-point opportunities against Auger-Aliassime.

Next up for Auger-Aliassime is a match against world No. 116 Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain.

Halep victorious in Grand Slam return

Simona Halep, who missed three of the year's biggest events while recovering from a calf injury, delivered a statement win in her return to Grand Slam action as she beat Italian Camila Gorgi 6-4 7-6(3) on Monday to reach the second round.

The former world No. 1, who is seeded 12th in New York, relied on a solid serving game to get by in-form Gorgi, who won the biggest title of her career just two weeks ago in Montreal.

Halep missed the French Open, Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics due to an injury suffered in Rome and then, in only her second tournament back, was forced to withdraw from a U.S. Open tune-up event in Cincinnati due to a right thigh injury.

The 29-year-old Romanian was considered to be one of the more vulnerable seeds in New York but showed she was up for the task at hand in the day's first match on Grandstand.

Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion whose best U.S. Open finish came in 2015 when she reached the semifinals, won 83 per cent of her first-serve points, fired down six aces and faced just two break points during the 93-minute match. Next up for Halep will be Slovakian lucky loser Kristina Kucova.

Rublev downs qualifier Karlovic

World No. 7 Andrey Rublev made short work of veteran qualifier Ivo Karlovic in the first round, beating the tricky Croatian 6-3 7-6(3) 6-3.

The Russian came into the year's final Grand Slam having reached the Cincinnati title clash and made a blistering start on Grandstand, winning the opening three games of the match before taking the first set with ease.

The 42-year-old Karlovic, the oldest U.S. Open qualifier in the Open Era, launched his comeback in the second set but Rublev held his nerve in the tiebreak, which he claimed with a forehand winner, before shifting gears in the final set.

After racing to a 5-3 lead, the 23-year-old former Flushing Meadows quarter-finalist closed out the match on the back of his superb serve, forcing a backhand error from the towering Karlovic on match point.

Brady, Ostapenko, Tsonga out of tourney

Australian Open runner-up Jennifer Brady has withdrawn from the U.S. Open because of an injury.

Brady, a semifinalist last year in Flushing Meadows, has not played competitively since being forced to retire from her second-round match against Jelena Ostapenko in Cincinnati. The U.S. Tennis Association did not specify her injury.

Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, also pulled out Monday for medical reasons.

On the men's side, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also withdrew. The 2008 Australian Open finalist has a right leg injury.

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2021-08-30 20:36:33Z
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