Leylah Fernandez of Canada plays a backhand return to Alycia Parks of the U.S. during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alessandra Tarantino
MELBOURNE, Australia – Delayed by rain for more than three hours, Leylah Fernandez got off to a great start in her second-round women’s singles match at the Australian Open.
But after building a promising three-game lead in the first set, the Laval, Que., athlete sputtered.
Alycia Parks of Atlanta, Georgia, came back to win the first set 7-5, then took the second 6-4 to bounce the Canadian in one hour, 43 minutes.
Parks will now play the winner of the all-American showdown between Coco Gauff and Caroline Dolehide. Gauff, 19, is seeded fourth in the tournament.
Parks finished with 39 unforced errors, compared to 18 for Fernandez. Parks had 13 aces while her opponent had none.
Fernandez had three double faults and only won 63 per cent of her points on first serve. Fernandez won eight service games, while Parks won 10.
Later Tuesday, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and partner Erin Routliffe of Montreal – who won the 2023 U.S. Open together – were scheduled to begin play in women’s doubles against American Ashlyn Krueger and Linda Fruhvirtova of Czechia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2024.
