Leylah
Fernandez stumbled in the qualifiers and missed out on the WTA 1000 Cincinnati
Open.
The
Canadian tennis player experienced a resurgence in her game with recent
performances on hardcourts. Fernandez embarked on the US Open Series
tournaments by competing in the qualifiers of the DC Open, advancing with wins
over Varvara Gracheva and Katie Boulter.
In the main
draw, she triumphed over Bernarda Pera, but then fell to the 4th seed Maria
Sakkari in the round of 16. At the
Canadian Open, Fernandez received a wild
card for the main draw and once again secured consecutive victories.
In the
first round, she defeated American Peytons Stearns, followed by a win against
Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the round of 16, where she was defeated by
Danielle Collins in straight sets.
This time
around,
Leylah Fernandez faced a bitter moment in the qualifying rounds of the
WTA 1000
Cincinnati Open, as she was defeated in the opening match by the 9th
seed Emma Navarro with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 4-6.
The former
US Open finalist saw a rise in her ranking due to the points earned in the past
two weeks, and as of Monday, she will be ranked as world No. 72.
This is still
a far cry from her time within the top 15 when she was just 19 years old.
However, she doesn't have many points to defend for the rest of the year and
currently sits at number 46 in the 2023 WTA Race.
Unfortunately,
Fernandez's disappointing loss, despite some promising performances, means that
she won't be competing in any tournaments until the US Open, where she defends
her second-round appearance from last year.
The
Cincinnati qualifiers brought about several surprises, including the exits of
players like Alize Cornet, Camila Giorgi, Camila Osorio, Linda Fruhvirtova, and
Alycia Parks.
Consequently, the qualifiers advancing to the main draw are Xiyu
Wang, Cristina Bucsa, Martina Trevisan, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Jasmine Paolini,
Ann Li, Emma Navarro, and Linda Noskova.