Leylah Fernandez waves to the crowd after her first-round win at the Australian Open.

Photo : Martin Sidorjak

Leylah Annie Fernandez was the first Canadian to kick off their 2025 Australian Open campaign and the first to reach round two, overcoming both the elements and Yuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets on Sunday. 

Opening the action on Kia Arena, Fernandez led for much of the match but had to battle to put away Starodubsteva, who refused to let the Canadian run away with the match. Still, Fernandez had the answers late in both sets as she claimed a 7-5, 6-4 win. 

The match was largely on the Canadian’s racket as her “refuse to give up the baseline” style dictated the rallies. As a result, she had more than double her opponent’s winner count, 31 to 15, but also had more unforced errors with 45 to the Ukrainian’s 31. Break point efficiency was a deciding factor, as Fernandez converted five of 10 break point chances while her opponent only managed three breaks despite 11 opportunities. 

Fernandez was slow off the mark as a slew of errors gave the Ukrainian chances to break in a marathon opening game. Fortunately for the Canadian, she was able to conjure a couple of strong serves to save the break points and hold. 

She then quickly went on the offensive, ripping a big return to set up a break point of her own in Starodubtseva’s opening service game. Fernandez punched a nice drop volley to take a 2-0 lead. She had to battle to consolidate, fighting back from 15-40 down in the next game but she managed to hold for 3-0. 

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The pair exchanged breaks in the fifth and sixth games so the Canadian managed to maintain her advantage, despite continuing to fend off threats on serve. Serving for the set at 5-3, 15-0, the rain arrived and forced the players back to the locker room for several hours.  

When they returned, it seemed Fernandez’s rhythm was broken and three straight unforced errors on the restart gave the Ukrainian break points. While the Canadian battled back to deuce, back-to-back missed forehands handed the break to her opponent. Fernandez refound her range at the perfect time, though. As Starodubtseva served to stay in the set at 5-6, the Canadian started blasting winners seemingly at will. She had five in the game as she broke to wrap up the opening set. 

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The second set followed a similar script as the first, with Fernandez breaking early, the Ukrainian breaking back when the Canadian served for the set, only to be broken late. 

This time, Fernandez got the only break of the early stages to take a 3-1 lead and she would ride that lone break until she served for the match at 5-3. She had missed a match point on her opponent’s serve in the previous game but had two chances to close it out at 40-15 in the ninth game. However, errors again cost the Canadian as she let Starodubtseva back to deuce, where the Ukrainian crushed back-to-back winners to break. 

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Undeterred, Fernandez responded immediately as her opponent served to stay in the match in the following game. The Ukrainian seemed nervous with her back against the wall and double-faulted to set up a fourth match point. This time, she missed a forehand to send the Canadian into the third round. 

Fernandez is looking to reach the third round of the Australian Open for the first time. Standing between her and round three will be Spain’s Cristina Busca. The Canadian won their lone previous meeting last summer at the Olympics. 

Félix Auger-Aliassime, who arrives in Melbourne fresh off a title in Adelaide, will kick off his Australian Open on Monday against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, not before 2 am EST. 

Tickets for the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round tie between Canada and Hungary are now on sale. Join us February 1 and 2 at IGA Stadium in Montreal, as the Canadian team begins their quest for the 2025 Davis Cup Final 8. To access tickets at early-bird pricing, click here.

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