This time, the order was too heavy. Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez lost 6-4, 6-2 to Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals of the women’s tennis tournament in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.
The Kazakh, fourth racket in the world, sealed the outcome of the match on Qatari cement after an hour and 34 minutes. It was the first career duel on the WTA circuit between Fernandez and Rybakina.
“She’s a very good player, a left-handed player; you have to be careful, Rybakina admitted about Fernandez in comments reported on the WTA website. I didn’t have a good start to the match, but I managed to win at the end of the first set, so I’m happy to have been able to win in two [manches]. »
“Today it was very windy unlike other days,” she continued. I lacked precision on serve, and it was difficult to adapt. However… I managed it, and then my feedback started to improve. »
Fernandez, who is ranked 38th in the world, surprised the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, fifth seed in the tournament, the day before in the round of 16. She was unable to repeat this feat on Thursday against the Wimbledon champion in 2022.
Rybakina will face Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final four, who defeated American Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-4 earlier Thursday.
Fernandez was unable to find solutions in the face of her rival’s power and incisive play.
The 2021 US Open finalist notably committed four double faults during the match, half as many as her opponent.
The left-hander was also less opportunistic than Rybakina in break situations — she only converted two of her six break points, while the Kazakh broke her five times in 11 opportunities.
Rybakina also dominated the Canadian 6-1 in terms of aces, and she also obtained 79.4% of the points with her first service ball, compared to only 56.9% in the same circumstances for Fernandez.
The 24-year-old Kazakh sealed the outcome of the match by making her fifth and final break in the eighth game of the second set.
Rybakina was a tough opponent for Fernandez. She is off to a good start to the WTA Tour season, having won two of her seven career titles earlier this year. She triumphed in Brisbane in January and in Abu Dhabi last week.
For her part, the 21-year-old from Laval still covets a first title in 2024, and a fourth in her career.
Fernandez and her Georgian playing partner Oksana Kalashnikova withdrew from the women’s doubles tournament on Tuesday, just hours after the Canadian representative defeated Spaniard Paula Badosa 0-6, 6-2, 6-3. in the second singles round.