Leylah Annie Fernandez delivered a scrappy, decided efficiency to kick off her marketing campaign on the Wuhan Open on Monday, inflicting the primary upset on day one by defeating No. 12 seed Diana Shnaider in three units.
It was a back-and-forth battle, with every girl dropping a set which they led by a break. When the mud settled on the finish of a dramatic decider, it was Fernandez marching into the second spherical with a 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-3 win, her second over Shnaider within the final three 1000 occasions.
Regardless of some inconsistency on her serve, Fernandez was ruthless when she was capable of land her first supply, profitable 79 per cent of her first-serve factors. She additionally did a greater job of limiting break level possibilities, going through seven on her personal serve whereas creating 13 on Shnaider’s, seven of which she transformed.
The momentum swings began early with Shnaider breaking serve within the opening recreation and holding to go up 2-0, just for Fernandez to go on a four-game run that included two breaks to take a 4-2 lead. She then led 5-3, 40-15 on her personal serve however was couldn’t out the opening set, with Shnaider saving three set factors on her solution to a break and finally levelling at 5-5.
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That failure to shut out got here again to hang-out Fernandez when she fell behind early within the tiebreak. Whereas she saved set factors from 4-6 down and had one other probability to complete it at 7-6, she finally dumped a forehand into the web on the twelfth seed’s third set level.
Set two was a bit extra routine. Fernandez went up love-40 in Shnaider’s second service recreation and, regardless of lacking the primary three break factors, was capable of get the early 2-1 lead. The Canadian saved a few break factors within the sixth recreation after which broke once more to shut out the set when Shnaider despatched a backhand lengthy.
The third set was harking back to the primary, with Shnaider breaking within the opening recreation earlier than Fernandez received scorching with two breaks of her personal however couldn’t keep the lead. This time, the Canadian solely led by as a lot as 3-1 and was damaged again instantly after her second break on a highlight-reel passing shot from Shnaider.
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In contrast to the opening set, Fernandez stored her foot on the gasoline after her edge slipped away, breaking within the eighth recreation to set herself as much as serve out the match at 5-3. At 30-all, she pulled out a spectacular passing shot of her personal, sprinting the size of the court docket to chase down a backhand that she punched up the road to arrange match level. The twelfth seed fired a forehand lengthy to ship Fernandez into the second spherical.
Fernandez awaits the winner between final week’s Beijing runner-up Karolina Muchova and Moyuka Uchijima. One other win might arrange a round-three conflict with No. 5 seed and residential favorite Qinwen Zheng.
