Canada's Leylah Fernandez eyes the ball as he plays a shot against Denmark's Clara Tauson during their second round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Two Canadians — Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu — who failed to make big runs in singles action at the French Open are making noise in doubles competition. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jean-Francois Badias
PARIS – Two Canadians who failed to make big runs in singles action at the French Open are making noise in doubles competition.
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., advanced to the semifinals of the women’s doubles draw after teaming with American Taylor Townsend for a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Taiwanese tandem of Chan Hao-ching and older sister Latisha Chan.
In mixed doubles. Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Michael Venus of New Zealand advanced to the final with a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) win over Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Nathaniel Lammons of the United States.
Fernandez and Townsend converted all four of their break-point chances while defending five of the six breaks they faced in the win.
Fernandez, a U.S. Open finalist in 2021, has struggled in singles competition this year. Her three-set loss to Clara Tauson in the second round of the women’s singles draw in Paris dropped her record on the season to 14-13.
However, she and Townsend have formed a successful partnership since joining forces in March, advancing to the final of the Miami Open and the semifinals of the Madrid Open. Both are WTA 1000 tournaments.
Fernandez and Townsend, the 10th seeds in Paris, will face the No. 2 American duo of Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in Friday’s semifinals. Pegula and Gauff defeated Fernandez and Townsend in straight sets in the Miami Open final.
Andreescu, looking to reclaim the form that saw her win the 2019 U.S. Open and rise to No. 4 in the world, looked strong in her first two singles matches before crashing 6-1, 6-1 in a third-round loss to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko. But the Canadian will be playing for a title after her semifinal win in the mixed event.
Andreescu and Venus need a second tiebreak to put away Dabrowski and Lammons after failing to convert a break chance that would have put them up 3-2 in the second set.
After both teams held throughout the set, Andreescu and Venus went up 4-0 in the tiebreak and won on their first match point.
Andreescu and Venus will face Germany’s Tim Puetz and Japan’s Miyu Kato in Thursday’s final.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2023.
