WTA Abu Dhabi Open Round-up | Leylah Fernandez and Emma Navarro bow out in second round upsets

The second round of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open continued with a couple of upsets among the tournament favorites, following the elimination of Leylah Fernandez at the hands of McCartney Kessler, while Emma Navarro was defeated by her compatriot Hailey Baptiste. The first quarterfinalists were determined, and two seeded players were eliminated.

In addition, Russian Liudmila Samsonova won comfortably against Janice Tjen, while Clara Tauson made a successful debut, defeating qualifier Simona Waltert in straight sets.

Canadian Leylah Fernandez (No. 25) had easily won her opening match against Pacquet, but this time she could not find her best form against a tricky opponent like Kessler (No. 32). The American dominated the match, winning 6-3, 6-2, and for the first time this season secured back-to-back victories (after having defeated Pavlyuchenkova in the first round).

Fernandez’s problems in the match were mainly linked to her serving, with just 50% first serves in, compared to 71% for her opponent. The former US Open runner-up won only 39% of points on her second serve and repeatedly faced break points against her. After a start in which Leylah led 3-2 in the first set, Kessler took control, winning five games in a row to take the set 6-3, and also built an early advantage in the second set.

The same pattern occurred after a few minutes in the second set: Fernandez stayed level at 2-2, but Kessler regained control, taking two consecutive breaks — and four games in a row — to close the win comfortably at 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 21 minutes. The 26-year-old advances to the quarterfinals, where she will face Clara Tauson. For Fernandez, her next challenge will be at the WTA 1000 Doha Open in Qatar.

Another early exit came from world No. 17 Emma Navarro, who has already fallen in the first round in three of the four tournaments she has played this season. The American entered the draw as the fourth seed and was considered one of the favorites, but she stumbled in her debut against compatriot Hailey Baptiste, who came in confident after reaching the third round of the Australian Open — where she gave Coco Gauff a scare.

This time, Baptiste survived a real battle in a tight first set that was decided in a tiebreak. Navarro squandered a 4-2 lead and a set point on her serve at 6-5, but ultimately Baptiste took the set with three points in a row at the end, 7-6(6). In the second set, Navarro responded strongly, dominating and winning 86% of service points and 68% of return points, taking the set nearly perfectly at 6-0.

However, the third set was decided by fine margins, with both players serving well. By 3-3, not a single break point had occurred, but Baptiste stayed consistent until the end, winning the last three games consecutively after a clean break, taking the match 7-6(6), 0-6, 6-3 in over two hours to advance directly to the quarterfinals.

World No. 16 Tauson had a challenging start to her match — partly because it was her first match of the tournament — and struggled to find consistency on serve. One of the Tour’s top servers gave up two consecutive breaks in the first set, though she immediately broke back both times. The score reached 2-2 without either player holding serve consistently so far.

However, Tauson gradually gained control, and once she found serving consistency, she dominated the less experienced Waltert — who had defeated Kasatkina in the opening round. Tauson — currently world No. 16 — earned three consecutive breaks before closing the first set on serve, 6-3.

In the second set, Tauson quickly gained an early break and continued to dominate. Waltert could do little against Tauson’s imposing 72% first-serve success rate, winning 78% of them over the match. Waltert had a 73% first-serve percentage, but only won 44% of those points. Tauson, without hesitation, controlled the second set and after just 70 minutes closed the win 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.