Leylah Fernandez needs to strengthen confidence after he exited the National Bank Open back-to-back start of the National Bank Open at the National Bank Open and Cincinnati Open.
The 22-year-old from Laval, Quebec, won a 6-3, 7-5 first-round victory in Mexico on Monday night, beating Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who was a two-time champion at the WTA 500 Monterrey Open.
Fernandez, the seventh seed, posted on Instagram: “I think every setback is just a comeback setting,” won the first set in 35 minutes.
Both players maintained their victory in the second set until Fernandez broke Christian 5-5 and then won the game 7-5, playing in the 33-minute hour.
Fernandez, who won the Washington Open last month, entered the 16-round match and will face Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova and Mexico’s Victoria Rodriguez.
As Monday’s game progressed, Cristian became stronger and stronger, ending with five Aacs and three double failures. Fernandez has three AACs and a double fault.
Fernandez gained an edge in the first place, winning 86% of the points in the first point, while Cristian scored 76 points.
Fernandez won two of five breakout points and scored 24 points. Cristian had 23 unmandatory mistakes, 11 more than Fernandez.
