A year after reaching the final of the United States Open, Quebecer Leylah Fernandez was held back in the second round on Wednesday in New York.
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The 19-year-old athlete lost the flag against the Russian Liudmila Samsonova, 35th racket in the world, in two sets of 6-3 and 7-6 (3).
The 14th-seeded Fernandez saved five match points as she trailed 6-5 in the second set. It was too much for the tiebreaker, however, and the Russian returned her rival’s second serve violently on her sixth opportunity to end the hostilities.
Aged 23, Samsonova already has two singles titles in 2022. She once again used her weapon of choice, her serve, to gain the upper hand in the match. In addition to not committing any double faults, she had 11 aces and won 80% of rallies when she landed her first serve.
The icing on the cake: Fernandez was unable to afford a single chance to break the Russian’s serve. In return, the Montrealer was able to save 11 of the 13 chances she gave Samsonova.
Recall that in 2021, Fernandez was unable to crown his Cinderella journey in the final of the American Grand Slam tournament, losing to the young Emma Raducanu.