Leylah Fernandez continues in superb form and defeats Clara Tauson to advance to the quarterfinals of the Cleveland Open.
The Canadian athlete suffer an early exit from Cncinnati Open at the first round in the qualy. Fernandez play against 9th seed Emma Navarro, but loose by 4-6, 6-2, 4-6.
The former US Open finalist decided to participate in this week's WTA 250 Cleveland Open to build up her competitive rhythm for the upcoming US Open. In last year's US Open, she was eliminated in the second round despite being the 14th seed.
In the first round of the Cleveland Open this week, she faced Danish player Clara Tauson. They had previously met only once in this year's French Open second round, where Tauson emerged victorious.
They also faced each other in the 2019 Australian Open junior final, where Tauson, the first seed, claimed the title against the 4th seed Fernandez.
The Danish tennis player skipped the WTA 1000 Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, with her most recent tournaments taking place in Warsaw and Prague at the end of July and early August.
This week, she advanced through the qualifiers by defeating Victoria Hu and then lost to Nadia Podoroska. However, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser and caused an upset in the first round by defeating the second seed, Barbora Krejcikova.
A short match unfolded between Leylah Fernandez and Clara Tauson, lasting only 25 minutes. The Canadian entered with exceptional form and secured three breaks to take the first set with a commanding score of 6-0.
Fernandez won 78% of the points played, specifically 25 out of 32 points. Unfortunately, Tauson experienced physical discomfort and had to retire before the start of the second set.
In the quarterfinals, she will face the winner of the match between Tatjana Maria and the 5th seed Anhelina Kalinina, scheduled for Wednesday, August 23rd.
CLEVELAND WTA 250: 2R #72 Leylah Fernandez def #90 Clara Tauson 6-0, ret. The Dane, 20, had her vitals checked at 0-5 first set and retired after returning from off-court MTO at end of set. Next for LAF is #28 (5)Anhelina Kalinina, 26, (UKR) or #49 Tatjana Maria, 36, (GER).
