Martin Sidorjak
The round of 16 kicked off today in the French capital and three Canadians continue to steam-roll their way to the finals. Félix Auger-Aliassime, Gabriela Dabrowski and Leylah Annie Fernandez are all making a name for themselves on the courts.
First up was Fernandez who played against the red-hot American, Amanda Anisimova. It only took one hour and 54 minutes for Fernandez to secure her spot in the quarter-final rounds at Roland Garros, winning the match against Anisimova 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
In 2019 Anisimova made her way to the Roland Garros semi-finals before being ousted by former World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. Anisimova, the world No. 28, generated a major upset during this year’s tournament defeating another former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka in straight sets in the first round.
On the other hand, this will be Fernandez’s first time in her career that she has advanced to the quarterfinals, at the French Open. In 2019, she was crowned the Junior Roland Garros champion and she is bringing that same energy to the court this time around. She has taken out her first two opponents with ease, making it to the third round, where she skillfully drove out World No. 14 Belinda Bencic.
In today’s match, Fernandez came out strong during the first set, playing incredible defence to lead 5-1 against the American. Although the 19-year-old lost some of her consistency in the middle of the set, losing 6 points and allowing her opponent to gain some momentum. She was able to find enough force to win the set 6-3. Fernandez once again dominated at the net, winning 80 per cent of her approaches. She also won 3/4 break points she faced.
The second set was more back and forth, as Anisimova had settled into the match. The 20-year-old American controlled the second set with her service game on point, to win 6-4 against the Canadian. Although Fernandez was able to shake up her opponent, she was unable to come back from the deficit, forcing a third set.
In the third set, both players were at their full form, fighting for every point. An extremely focused Fernandez was able to frustrate her opponent to get the job done. Delivering one ace, winning 76 per cent net points and saving two out of the three break points she faced. Although it wasn’t a picture-perfect set, Fernandez was able to hang in there to defeat the American and move onto the quarter-finals.
Fernandez will take on world No. 59 Martina Trevisan of Italy in the next round. Trevisan ousted Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the world No. 47, in the round of 16 to win the match in straight sets, 7-6(10), 7-5. In 2020, Trevisan made it to the quarter-finals, however, she lost to current World No. 1 Iga Swiatek who moved on to win the tournament. Fernandez and Trevisan have not met at a tournament before, making this their first head-to-head match up.
