Leylah Annie Fernandez defeated American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the women’s tennis tournament in Dubai on Monday morning.
Fernandez, who is at 33e world rank, took the measure of Pera, 83e, after an hour and 19 minutes of play on the Dubai cement. The 21-year-old Quebecer now has a 2-0 career record against the American, after defeating her at the Washington tournament last year.
She will face the Italian Jasmine Paolini, 57, in the second round.e world racket.
Fernandez was never really worried by Pera. Even though she was limited to four aces and committed four double faults, one less than her opponent, Fernandez managed to do well.
The 2021 US Open finalist notably won 62.5% of serving points, compared to barely 45.6% for her rival. She also dominated her opponent with 54.5% of points in return of serve, while Pera was limited to 37.5% of points in the same circumstances.
In addition, the Canadian was more opportunistic than Pera in the crucial moments of the match; she converted five of her eight break points, while the American was limited to two breaks in seven occasions.
Furthermore, the Laval resident and her Georgian playing partner Oksana Kalashnikova fell 6-4, 3-6 and 11-9 to the American Sofia Kenin and her Russian teammate Mirra Andreeva in the curtain-raiser of the women’s doubles tournament.
An Azarenka-Rybakina shock in the second round
Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka ousted Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-2, 6-4 and set the table for a second-round duel against Elena Rybakina.
The top four players in the world — Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Rybakina — are playing in the same tournament for the first time since the Australian Open. They each obtained a pass for the second round, and will perform on Tuesday.
Swiatek beat Rybakina in the final in Doha, Qatar, last Saturday. The last player to sweep the honors of the tournaments in Doha and Dubai was the Belgian Justine Henin, in 2007. Swiatek lost in the final last year. She will begin her journey against a former US Open champion, Sloane Stephens.
For her part, Sabalenka will end a three-week break following her second career title at the Australian Open. She will face Donna Vekic, and has never made it past the quarter-finals in Dubai.
Gauff will meet the Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, while Rybakina will play against Azarenka. She has a 2-0 career record against the Belarusian.
Furthermore, the former champions of the Dubai tournament, Elina Svitolina and Jelena Ostapenko, continued their journey.
Svitolina, who triumphed in 2017 and 2018, defeated fellow Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 7-6 (7).
Ostapenko ignored the 11 aces of Chinese Wang Xiyu to oust her 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours. Ostapenko, champion in Dubai in 2022, triumphed in Adelaide and Linz already this year.
Karolina Pliskova, who already participated in the final in Dubai, defeated the Chinese Zhang Shuai 6-3, 7-5. The Czech won in Cluj-Napoca two weeks ago, and reached the final four last week in Doha.