Quebec’s Leylah Annie Fernandez won’t have it easy in her first-round clash at the Madrid tournament.
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Thursday, she has an appointment with the Russian Daria Kasatkina on the clay courts of the Spanish capital.
The latter is ranked 24th in the WTA rankings. The 24-year-old athlete will have the knife between his teeth for his confrontation against the representative of the maple leaf. Indeed, she will try to get out of her little lethargy, she who has not crossed the round of 16 of a tournament since that of Doha at the end of February.
Fernandez finds himself in a similar situation. The Montreal native hasn’t made it past the first round of a competition in her last two tournament appearances. The young 19-year-old sensation occupies the 20th rung on the world chessboard.
Fernandez and Kasatkina have never faced each other on the WTA Tour.
Also a challenge for Andreescu
For her part, the Canadian Bianca Andreescu will face the American Alison Riske in the first round in Madrid. The two women also have an appointment on Thursday.
The Ontarian won the only duel she disputed against the current holder of the 42nd world level. She had won 7-6 (2), 5-7 and 6-3 in October 2021 at the Indian Wells tournament.
Andreescu is at heart back in action, having been on the sidelines for almost six months. She took over the collar last week in Stuttgart. At this event, she won her first-round match, but was flagged down on her second outing.
Last December, the 21-year-old athlete and 111th racket in the world announced that she was going to delay her start to the season because she did not feel physically and mentally ready.