Leylah Annie Fernandez has plenty of points to defend at the United States Open, she who reached the final in 2021. The Quebecer brilliantly started her journey to the final Grand Slam of the season on Monday in New York, defeating France’s Océane Dodin in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
The Maple Leaf representative, 14th in the world, flew over the first set in just over 30 minutes and broke her opponent, 98th in the WTA, twice to get there. On the other hand, it broke once.
In the second set, the Canadian was challenged a little more, but she repeated a similar scenario to run away with the set in just over 40 minutes.
Fernandez was good with the ball, hitting 10 aces and getting 60% of her first serves between the lines. She won 74% of subsequent rallies. The only blemish on her record will no doubt be the two breakpoints she had that she couldn’t salvage. However, she was opportunistic and converted half of the break points she offered.
In the next round she will face Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, 35th racquet in the world. The latter defeated the Czech Sara Bejlek from qualifying in two sets 6:3 and 6:1.
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