Leylah Fernandez of Canada plays a forehand return to Lucia Bronzetti of Italy during their first-round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth
LONDON – Canada’s Leylah Fernandez continued her impressive grass-court season Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in first-round action at Wimbledon.
Fernandez, seeded 30th in the women’s singles draw at the All England Club, had three breaks in the match, including a key win to go up 4-2 in the second set.
The 21-year-old from Laval, Que., won 80 per cent of both first serve points and net points, hit 21 winners to Bronzetti’s 10 and outscored her opponent 73-57 on total points.
Fernandez, who advanced to the final at the Eastbourne International heading into Wimbledon, improved to 7-2 on grass this season.
She will next face the winner of a match between Danish wild card Caroline Wozniacki, a former No. 1, and American qualifier Alycia Parks.
Later Tuesday, 19-year-old qualifier Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., faced 27th seed Katerina Siniakova of Czechia, while in men’s action, 17th-seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal took on Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2024.
