Canada's Leylah Annie Fernandez plays against Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer during a Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers singles match, in Vancouver, on Friday, April 14, 2023. Fernandez suffered a 6-3, 6-4 loss to 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the first round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
MADRID – Canada’s Leylah Fernandez suffered a 6-3, 6-4 loss to 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the first round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
The Russian teen, ranked 194th in the world, needed just an hour and 16 minutes to upset the 49th-ranked Fernandez.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., won just 59.6 per cent of her first serves, compared to 70.1 per cent for Andreeva.
The 20-year-old Fernandez was successful on just one of six breakpoint opportunities, while Andreeva stole Fernandez’s serve three times on five chances.
Andreeva will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, the tournament’s 13th seed, in the second round.
Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard, who beat American Elizabeth Mandlik in Tuesday’s qualifier, was scheduled to meet Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in an opening-round match later Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2023.
