2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez entered her third-round match against Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva at the National Bank Open on Friday having lost her last seven matches against Top 10 opponents.
She broke that streak in a big way to equal her best-ever result at her country’s major event, and is ready for a Round of 16 showdown with Naomi Osaka.
Fernandez dominated the No. 5 seed 6-1, 6-4 in just 1 hour and 21 minutes to not only reach the Round of 16 in Toronto, a feat she also achieved in Montreal earlier this year, but also claim her first Top 10 win in over a year. The last time she defeated someone ranked as high as Andreeva was when she took down then-World No. 4 Jessica Pegula during her championship run at the Mubadala DC Open last year.
Fernandez cruised through most of the match against an off-form Andreeva until it got to 6-1, 5-1, where the 20-year-old found some rhythm to hold serve from 0-30 in the eighth game and brought it closer at 5-4. However, a crucial forehand error at 0-15 while serving at 5-4 shifted momentum back to Fernandez, who quickly finished off the match just three points later.
This moment reflected how much control Fernandez had throughout the match.
“The key for me was to stay positive, stay strong, and to keep being patient. I mean, she wasn’t going to give away some easy balls,” Fernandez said afterwards. “In the beginning there were a lot of long rallies, and that was a key for me to kind of stick with it, trusting in my abilities, and to continue on playing my game throughout the match.”
The match statistics supported Fernandez’s approach. Andreeva committed 19 unforced errors in the first set alone and totaled 34 for the entire match-double her count of winners at just 17. Meanwhile, Fernandez managed eight winners with only seven unforced errors.
“[I was] telling myself to put the ball back in. I mean, I’ve trained a lot growing up in being consistent and hitting like a hundred balls in a row, and trying to hit, you know, a series where none of us miss,” Fernandez continued. “It’s like that’s where I come back to. Like I know I can do it.
“There has been times where I just want to finish the point quickly; and in that moment I was like no, trust in my abilities; trust in my fitness. I’ve put in the work; I know physically I’m strong; I know I can endure long rallies-long matches-so if it’s going to take a hundred balls hitting it just right to break her down then so be it.
“That was kind of my mindset. I knew that if I could do it-and apply more pressure-I would get my chances for winners or taking bigger risks during points.”
Osaka cruises past Mertens
Next up for Fernandez is former National Bank Open finalist Osaka who defeated Elise Merten by scores of 6-1 and 6-2 on Friday. Osaka and Fernandez have faced each other twice before on tour with both winning one apiece; Osaka took their latest encounter earlier this year.
“Truthfully speaking-I played really bad,” Osaka laughed when discussing their practice session “I hope maybe she thinks I’ll play like that again-it might catch her off guard! I’m not one who cares too much about practice anyway-not out there swinging fully or anything.” Their previous two matches have been intense three-set battles with Fernandez winning their first encounter back at the third round of US Open while under considerable pressure defending champion status herself-a position which ultimately allowed Fernadez reach finals months later-but four years after this encounter an upset occurred when Osaka won another clash held previously within Wuhan ten months ago too! “That whole moment defending US Open title felt incredibly stressful,” admitted Osake recalling events from prior tournament involving both competitors involved now today.”What stands out about those days are how gritty Leylah showed up competing during those heated moments!I think we’ve grown tremendously since then,” remarked Asuka looking back nostalgically.”Source link
Osaka breezes past Mertens in Toronto for her sixth win in nine meetings
Osaka mentioned that one challenge with facing Fernandez is simply dealing with her left-handedness; specifically highlighting how difficult left-handed serves can be-citing former World No. 1 Petra Kvitova as an example-and praised Fernandez’s steady demeanor during matches. “I think it’s tough because she’s lefty,” Osaka said. “Obviously there aren’t many lefties on tour so it takes me awhile getting used to that style of play.” She added: “She has a really good attitude; I’ve never seen her down; she always keeps fighting-I really appreciate that about her.” In Washington recently they practiced together but Osaka doesn’t place too much importance on practice sessions despite their recency.“Truthfully speaking-I played really bad,” Osaka laughed when discussing their practice session “I hope maybe she thinks I’ll play like that again-it might catch her off guard! I’m not one who cares too much about practice anyway-not out there swinging fully or anything.” Their previous two matches have been intense three-set battles with Fernandez winning their first encounter back at the third round of US Open while under considerable pressure defending champion status herself-a position which ultimately allowed Fernadez reach finals months later-but four years after this encounter an upset occurred when Osaka won another clash held previously within Wuhan ten months ago too! “That whole moment defending US Open title felt incredibly stressful,” admitted Osake recalling events from prior tournament involving both competitors involved now today.”What stands out about those days are how gritty Leylah showed up competing during those heated moments!I think we’ve grown tremendously since then,” remarked Asuka looking back nostalgically.”Source link
