Laval’s Leylah Fernandez suffered elimination in her first-round match at the Cincinnati tournament, losing 6-4, 7-5 to Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova on Monday afternoon.
Fernandez, 13th seed and now 14th player in the world, had nevertheless had an excellent start in each of the two ends.
However, Fernandez was unable to take advantage of his opponent’s 14 double faults or his low first-serving success rate of just 52 percent. Fernandez’s was 66 percent.
Both players scored three aces each, but Fernandez also committed eight double faults. Fernandez had four service breaks in five opportunities, but only saved two of the eight break points she faced.
In the first set, Fernandez scored a break in the second game which helped her build a 3-0 lead. Alexandrova salvaged that break in game five and got a second, without dropping a single point, in game nine.
Alexandrova also won the last 12 points of this first set, which she completed in 33 minutes.
The 27-year-old Russian, ranked 27th in the WTA, continued her momentum at the start of the second set by breaking Fernandez’s serve from the opening game, and once again without conceding a single point.
Fernandez finally came out of her torpor and won the next five games, three of them serving Alexandrova.
Serving with a 5-1 lead, Fernandez failed to capitalize on two set points, and Alexandrova was able to extend the set with her fourth break of the match.
From there, Alexandrova won 20 of the next 26 points and had two more service breaks that led to victory and a second-round berth.
Fernandez was playing in just her third game since recovering from a right foot injury sustained during the French Open.
At the National Bank Open last week in Toronto, she needed three sets to knock out Australia’s Storm Sanders in the first round. She suffered elimination in her next match, in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-1 against eventual finalist, Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Later Monday, on the men’s side, Denis Shapovalov will cross swords with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. The two players occupy, respectively, the 21st and 18th levels in the ATP rankings.
Félix Auger-Aliassime, seeded seventh, has a bye in the first round and is scheduled to start his tournament on Wednesday.