(Toronto) Canadian Leylah Fernandez delivered a solid first-round performance at the National Bank Open on Wednesday night against Japanese Nao Hibino.
The 21-year-old won 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 despite the fact that the identity of his opponent changed just an hour before the clash.
Indeed, the Quebecer was initially supposed to face the Chinese Shuai Zhang, but the latter withdrew from the tournament due to a virus.
Fernandez, who had a 3-1 record against Hibino, won the first set with his second ace of the match.
The 25e world player was serving for the match and was just two points away from victory when she saw Hibino, 151e in the world, stand up and win the second set 7-5.
Fernandez did not give up, however, and she quickly broke her opponent to take a 2-1 lead in the final set. She broke her again to make it 4-1 and 6-1.
In the second round, the Montrealer will face American Ashlyn Krueger, 82e world player, from the qualifications.
Like Fernandez, Canadian Marina Stakusic advanced to the second round.
PHOTO CHRIS YOUNG, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Marina Stakusic
The 19-year-old Ontarian staged a strong comeback to beat Russian Erika Andreeva 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 in her first career match in the main draw of the Canadian tournament.
“It was amazing to see everyone supporting me,” Stakusic said. “It was really nice to have all that support from the crowd.”
The next opponent for Stakusic, who started the tournament at 160e world ranking, is Taylor Townsend. The American, ranked 71e in the world, lost in qualifying but replaced an injured player in the main draw, and then her first-round opponent, Dayana Yastremska, also withdrew due to injury as Townsend led 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday.
Canadian Rebecca Marino was also in action on Wednesday afternoon, but lost 6-3, 6-4 to Poland’s Magda Linette.
In the other clashes of the day, the former world number 1, the Japanese Naomi Osaka, got the better of the Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-1.