Martin Sidorjak
The Roland Garros quarter-finals kicked off today with Leylah Annie Fernandez and Italian Martina Trevisan playing on Philippe Chatrier for a spot in the women’s semi-finals. This is the first time the two have gone head-to-head and the 59th ranked Trevisan was able to gain the upper hand, winning the match 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3.
During the match, Fernandez began to show signs of a pre-existing right foot injury that became noticeable throughout the match. Although she was able to get on top of it in the second, she was unable to maintain the same level as Trevisan for all three sets.
This is the deepest run Fernandez has made at Roland Garros. However, the 2019 Junior Roland Garros Champion did not have the easiest time getting to this point. She was forced to defeat many tennis veterans in order to book herself a ticket to the quarter-final match. This included 2018 French Open doubles champion Katerina Siniakova, world No. 14 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, and American Amanda Anisimova.
On the other hand, Trevisan has had a picture-perfect tournament on clay, not dropping a set, and defeating many players seeded above her in the last three rounds. The Italian made it to the quarter-finals at the 2020 French Open, losing to the eventual champion, Iga Swiatek. The world No. 59 has also won her first WTA title on clay this past year at the Morocco Open, dropping her only set against Garbine Muguruza of Spain.
During the first set, Fernandez came out of the gate a bit slower than usual. Throughout the tournament she has led the first set, setting the tone early for her opponent. However, this time around, Fernandez was struggling to return the ball. Trevisan was able to capitalize on her errors to dominate the first set, winning 68 per cent of her service points and 52 per cent receiving points.
In the second set, Fernandez had become more established. Although her injury was still apparent, she was able to shake up her opponent, saved a match point in the 10th game, and forced the match to go to a decider.
Trevisan came out even stronger at the beginning of the third set and built up a 5-1 lead over the Canadian. Fernandez, who always has that never give up mentality, was able to put up a good fight and broke her opponent back in the seventh game, and held to love in her following service game. That would be as close as Fernandez would get to Trevisan, as the Italian closed out the match in the ninth game.
Trevisan will move on to play the winner of the all-American match between No. 23 Coco Gauff and No. 64 Sloane Stephens. Trevisan has played Gauff once before, defeating the American 6-4, 2-6, 5-7 on her way to the 2020 French Open quarter-finals. If Stephens is to beat Gauff, this would be a first meeting for Trevisan and Stephens in the semi-final round.
