Leylah Annie Fernandez overcame a slow start to upset Russia’s Diana Shnaider 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Wuhan Open tennis tournament on Monday.
Fernando, 28e racket in the world, took two hours and 40 minutes to overcome the 12e leader in Chinese cement. The Canadian thus increased her career record against Shnaider to 2-0, after having beaten her for the first time in the round of 16 of the Cincinnati Open earlier this summer.
The 22-year-old will face the winner of the duel between the Czech Karolina Muchova and the Japanese Moyuka Uchijima in the next round.
Fernandez dominated Shnaider 7-2 in aces, but she committed two more double faults (10-8) than her. The Laval resident was also more opportunistic than the 20-year-old Russian, as she converted seven of her 13 break points. In comparison, Shnaider was limited to four breaks in seven occasions.
On the other hand, the 12e World player Beatriz Haddad-Maia defeated American Madison Keys 7-6 (7), 6-2 in the first round.
The Brazilian, champion of the Seoul Open last month, converted five of her eight break points — Keys was limited to three breaks in 12 opportunities — en route to victory after 128 minutes of play.
The 10e top seed Anna Kalinskaya easily defeated Anna Bondar 6-1, 6-3, while the 15e top seed Donna Vekic toppled Elise Mertens 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Rain forced the organizers of the Wuhan tournament to interrupt matches on outdoor courts.
The top eight seeds, including Aryna Sabalenka and China Open champion Coco Gauff, earned a bye into the second round.
Fritz and Dimitrov make progress in Shanghai
Two days after launching hostilities, the American Taylor Fritz and the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov were finally able to complete their respective second round matches at the Shanghai Masters.
Fritz, who was a finalist at the U.S. Open, was leading 4-3 in the first set against Frenchman Térence Atmane when rain interrupted play Saturday at Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena and again Sunday on the outdoor courts.
The 26-year-old tennis player had to play two tiebreakers before defeating Atmane (number 161) in two sets of 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). Fritz will meet in the third round with the Japanese Yosuke Watanuki.
Dimitrov, who is participating in his 100e career Masters 1000 series tournament, resumed his match against Zizou Bergs on Monday, when he led by a set, but fell behind with a break in the second set.
Bergs, a Belgian who is ranked 73rd in the world, seized his chance and won the second round. Dimitrov, however, fought back with three breaks against him, to make up for the fact that he was broken once, en route to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory.
The 33-year-old veteran will face Australian Alexei Popyrin in the third round.
For his part, the Dane Holger Rune came from behind to oust the Italian Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3.
Another Italian gave up. Lorenzo Musetti appeared to be heading for a clear victory when he suddenly collapsed, ultimately suffering a 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2 loss to David Goffin. The Belgian will now cross swords with the American Marcos Giron, who easily defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-3.
Flavio Cobolli defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4) and 6-3, setting the table for a third-round match against four-time tournament champion Novak Djokovic.
Rain continued to spoil the party, and play was halted for the remainder of the day on the outdoor courts. Many matches were therefore postponed until Tuesday, including that of 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Under the retractable roof, American Frances Tiafoe manhandled China’s Zhou Yi 6-2, 6-4, while Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor beat 26th seed Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-2.
For his part, the Russian Roman Safiullin defeated the Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-2.