Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, returns a shot to Ekaterina Alexandrova, of Russia, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canadian tennis star Leylah Fernandez has a date in the final 16 at the Guadalajara Open after knocking off 13th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium on Tuesday.
Fernandez, of Laval, Quebec, defeated Mertens 6-3, 6-4 in the WTA 1000 tournament and will play the winner of a round-of-32 match between Americans Madison Keys and Emma Navarro.
Both players had three aces in the one-hour, 34-minute match. Mertens had eight double faults while Fernandez had five.
Fernandez saved four of 11 break points while her opponent saved two of six.
In women’s doubles on Tuesday, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., and her partner Maria Fernanda Navarro Olivia of Mexico lost 4-6, 6-7 (6) to Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and her partner Xu Yifan of China.
Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand will play Arantxa Rus of Netherlands and Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine in a later match on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2023.
