Leylah Annie Fernandez continued her preparations for the Wimbledon tournament on Wednesday by crushing American Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 16 of the Eastbourne grass court tournament.
Fernandez, the 30e world racket, took only one hour and 16 minutes to dispose of Krueger, 79e in the world. It was the first duel between them in their careers on the WTA circuit.
In the quarter-finals, the 21-year-old from Laval will face the British Harriet Dart, who surprised the American Sofia Kenin, champion of the Australian Open tennis tournament in 2020, in three sets of 6-3, 6-7 (3) and 6-0.
In women’s doubles, Ontario’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her playing partner Erin Routliffe reached the semi-finals by defeating China’s Hanyu Guo and Xinyu Jiang 7-6 (5), 6-3.
On the other hand, the day was less successful for Canadian tennis players at Wimbledon.
Quebecers Alexis Galarneau and Gabriel Diallo fell in qualifying.
Galarneau was soundly beaten 6-1, 6-0 by Frenchman Richard Gasquet, 20e top seed in the qualifying table, while Diallo fell 6-4, 7-6 (5) to Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, eighth seed.
Ontario’s Marina Stakusic fared better after coming from behind to win 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the second round of qualifying against Frenchwoman Chloé Paquet, 116e player in the world.
Stakusic, 164e world player, will face the British Amarni Banks in the third and final round of qualifying. If she wins, the Canadian would reach the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.