Leylah Annie Fernandez was ousted in a difficult US Open third-round match against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, losing 6-3, 7-6(2) on Friday.
Fernandez won their only other meeting back at the 2021 edition of the tournament, when the Canadian defeated Sabalenka in the semifinal.
Sabalenka powered her way to the straight-sets win, firing 28 winners and six aces. However, the 22-year-old from Laval wasn’t far behind in each category, finishing with 26 and five, respectively. Of those winners, 15 of them came in the tight second set.
The Canadian nearly got off to an ideal start, piling the pressure on the three-time major winner’s serve. Fernandez held three break points, but Sabalenka managed to hold after an 11-minute opening game. The world No. 1 then returned the favour, however, from 15-40, Fernandez held to make it 1-1.
From that point, it was smooth sailing for Sabalenka on serve who dropped just two service points in the rest of the opener. The 27-year-old broke in the fourth game which allowed her to eventually serve out the set at 5-3 and the defending champion capitalized.
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Fernandez’s first delivery led her to a couple of holds to begin the second set as the 22-year-old won all her first-serve points through her first two service games.
At 3-2, 30-all, the Canadian No. 2 fired a return winner to hold her first break point since the opening game of the match. However, Sabalenka served well under pressure to hold.
Fernandez’s first serve showed no signs of slowing her down. The world No. 30 won 83 per cent of points on her first delivery en route to the tiebreak. Both players traded early mini-breaks but, at 1-1, Sabalenka won five-straight points and was one point away from the round of 16.
The Canadian saved one match point but, on the ensuing point, Sabalenka’s passing shot painted the baseline and the top seed sealed the match in just over 90 minutes.
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Fernandez remains in the doubles draw as her and Venus Williams are in second-round action on Saturday. Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are the only Canadians alive in singles, both players also play on Saturday.
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
