(Toronto) Leylah Fernandez was eliminated in the second round of the National Bank Open on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Quebecer was surprised 6-4, 6-2 by the American Ashlyn Krueger, who came through qualifying.
Fernandez, who was the 15e The top seed in the competition, was the last Canadian in singles, including the men’s tournament in Montreal.
The 25e The world number one player had a chance to break Krueger when she trailed 5-4 in the first set, but was unable to complete the job while leading 40-0.
Krueger, 82e world’s best racquet, broke Fernandez early in the second set and led 3-1 then 4-2 thanks to a good serve.
The 20-year-old American again broke the Montrealer, who then showed signs of frustration, to make it 5-2 before finishing the job on serve.
Ontario’s 19-year-old Marina Stakusic was also in the second round, but she lost 6-0, 6-2 to American Taylor Townsend earlier in the day.
In the other matches of the day, the tournament favourite, the American Coco Gauff, easily won 6-4, 6-2.
The 20-year-old, who won the U.S. Open last year, was returning from the Paris Olympics, where she played on clay after her grass season. Thursday was her first hard-court match in several weeks.
“It’s not easy to change surfaces so often in such a short period of time,” Gauff said after her victory. “I’m happy to have won this match.”
Sixth seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia defeated Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 6-2.