Ekaterina Alexandrova edged past 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in an incredibly close first round in New York after a grueling 'game of attrition' match which she won 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4.

Twenty-second seed Alexandrova came into the first round of the Slam at Flushing Meadows after finishing as runner-up to Sara Sorribes Tomo at the WTA 250 event Tennis in the Land in Cleveland four days ago.

After reaching the final at the US Open two years ago, Fernandez faced disappointment last year when she was defeated in the second round by Liudmila Samsonova. At the 2022 New York major, the Canadian was the fourteenth seed and had 1300 WTA Ranking points to defend.

This year, she came in as an unseeded player with no pressure about maintaining points. Unfortunately for Fernandez though, her run at the 2023 US Open has not gone past the first round as she lost to Alexandrova in a grueling match that lasted over three hours.

After Alexandrova won the tiebreak in the first set, it looked as though Fernandez would have to climb a mountain to give herself a chance of getting through to the second round.

However, the 20-year-old managed to secure a break in the second set, meaning it was all to play for in a very close decider. The players made it to 3-3 when Fernandez looked to be pushing ahead, earning three break points.

Although Alexandrova managed to claw back two, Fernandez broke her opponent on the third and final time of asking, meaning things looked to be going in her favor. The American crowd was clearly on the side of the Canadian player, cheering loudly in support of her throughout the tense final games.

Despite this setback, Alexandrova pushed back against the odds. Fernandez was leading 30-15 in her service game when hard, solid hitting from Alexandrova led Fernandez to commit an unforced error to equalize the game.

Fernandez proceeded to hit the ball out again, handing Alexandrova a chance to break back. However, the Russian hit the ball out, leading to a deuce. The two women then went back and forth for a short while, with Alexandrova getting the first advantage before losing it to an unforced error.

The 28-year-old clearly couldn't believe what had happened, but got the front foot on the next rally and successfully managed to break back. After this, Fernandez's energy seemed to drop and Alexandrova held her service game.

Fernandez then had to serve for the set but ended up giving her opponent three break points. Although she won back two of them, Alexandrova ultimately prevailed and won the match.

She will face the winner of the match between Lesia Tsurenko and qualifier Elsa Jacquemot in the second round of the US Open.