Leylah Fernandez kicks off 2022 with strong showing at Adelaide International

The US Open finalist had a solid ending to the year where she showed that her defeat in New York did not shake her. Unlike Raducanu, Fernandez was able to win a few matches until the end of the year. The Canadian then had a very intense offseason where she trained hard in order to be even better in 2022. Her first match was pretty good, nothing special but enough to defeat Alexandrova.

Fernandez played her signature lefty aggressive tennis from the start and she needed to because Alexandrova is a very capable hitter of her own. If the Russian finds a rhythm she can be very tricky to beat especially on hard courts. Fernandez did not hit her first serve at a very high clip but every time she did the point was over quickly.

It's becoming a very important part of her game that allows her to keep points brief. On her 2nd serve, she was able to keep the Russian away from any chances not allowing a single break point in the first or second set. On return it was the typical formula, wait for the 2nd serve and then unleash from the baseline. It worked quite well as Fernandez won over 50 % of those rallies.

All of that was enough for a solid straight sets victory getting her season underway the right way. Fernandez might be a dark horse candidate in Australia if she peaks in form and confidence. Matches like this will do her good in that regard.