Leylah Annie Fernandez just doesn’t know how to lose right now.
Less than 24 hours after her second-ever WTA main draw win, she made it a third on Wednesday night, crushing eight-seeded Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-0 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC.
What an unbelievable performance by the young Canadian. She seems to be happy continuing to defeat players way higher up the rankings, oozing confidence as she goes.
Magnificent tennis from start to finish by Leylah Annie Fernandez, who defeats Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-0 to cruise into the @AbiertoTelcel quarter-finals.
Impressive showing to reach her maiden tour-level QF! She’ll face Anatasia Potapova for a place in the semis. 🇨🇦
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) February 27, 2020
It will be the first final eight match for the 17 year old, who has been phenomenal since defeating then-World No. 5 Belinda Bencic at the Fed Cup a few weeks back.
She was in control from start to finish in this one, breaking her Japanese opponent twice in the first set. Fernandez was broken back once in the set, and boy was it a rollercoaster. In a service game that included an astounding seven deuces, she finally bowed out. But, she broke right after.
So, she broke, got broken, and broke again. And that was all the drama she needed in the opener, holding her last two service games to clinch the set.
And the second and final set was a pure display of dominance from Fernandez. She needed just 28 points to dispatch of the World No. 71. A 28 point set. That’s something that happens at your local tennis court, not in a round of 16 match at the Mexican Open.
The set was just 21 minutes, and the match itself was a hair over an hour long. Another impressive stat: Fernandez won all five of her break point opportunities in the match against a tough opponent.
It truly has been a fantastic 2020 for Fernandez, who now matches up against Russian Anastasia Potapova on Thursday. Potapova is just 18 herself, and with Sloane Stephens being upset earlier in the tournament, the road is wide open for the youth revolution at the Mexican Open.
Auger-Aliassime’s run halted
And for the first time in three tournaments, Félix Auger-Aliassime won’t be playing in an ATP final. He was defeated Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday night to halt his excellent run of tennis. The result was no fault of Auger-Aliassime; moreso, it was exceptional tennis from World No. 45 Edmund.
A fab Feb for Felix 👏
10 wins plus finals at Rotterdam/Marseille ☑️
5 MPs saved in back-to-back victories at Marseille ☑️
Youngest finalist in Rotterdam history ☑️The future is bright 😎 indeed. pic.twitter.com/q7NSU0ozZF
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 26, 2020
Sometimes, all it takes is one mistake. In the first set, FAA was broken in his opening service game, and that was all Edmund would need. Both players were able to hold serves from there on, despite some break point opportunities going both ways.
The second set was much of the same, with both players gaining some confidence and hitting some great shots. It was back and forth tennis, but all it took was one break for Edmund the way he was playing.
Auger-Aliassime had two break opportunities to get back into the set with the score 3-2, but was unable to tie it up. He fell behind 4-2 instead, and was not able to get his back off the wall.
He will now get some much-needed time off after a superb string of tennis that has earned him the World No. 19 spot.
(Feature image: @AbiertoTelcel)