Surprise in Toronto: Leylah Fernandez crumbles against Ashlyn Krueger

Ashlyn Krueger (No. 82) defeated local favourite Leylah Fernandez (No. 25) and knocked her out of the Canadian Open. The 20-year-old American reached the Round of 16 of a WTA 1000 for the first time and will achieve the highest ranking of her career as world No. 64.

The 2021 US Open runner-up ended her fourth participation in the Canadian Open, but she has yet to advance past the second round. Although Fernandez was competitive throughout the match, Krueger prevailed in key moments and secured a hard-fought victory.

Both players were precise with their serves from the start. In the first set, Krueger had a 73% first serve percentage compared to Fernandez’s 78%, with both being nearly equally effective, winning 67% of the points on serve throughout the set.

The differences were minimal in the first part. A single break opportunity in the 5th game for Krueger was enough to take the lead. Although Fernandez had several break chances later on, Krueger held her serve and eventually secured the lead with a 6-4 set win after a tightly contested end.

The margins between the two players were slim, as both were effective with their serves. Unfortunately for the local player, errors at the start of the second set proved costly. Struggling with her first serve, Fernandez was broken early, allowing Krueger to take a 2-0 lead within minutes. Like in the first set, both players held serve well throughout.

With the score at 4-2 in Krueger’s favour, Fernandez's doubts resurfaced, offering her opponent a couple of break opportunities. The American capitalised, securing a second break and a chance to serve for the win. After an hour and 30 minutes, Krueger claimed victory on her third match point with a 6-4, 6-2 scoreline. In the third round she will face third-seeded Jessica Pegula (No. 5), who defeated former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova (No. 45) 7-5, 6-4.