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National Bank Open: Leylah Fernandez takes on Storm Sanders in the 1st round

Quebec’s Leylah Fernandez won the first set 6-4 when she returned to the field in two months. She faces Storm Sanders in her first game at the National Bank Open.

Sanders resisted Fernandez throughout the set and notably erased four break points, including three in the 8th game. was serving. The Aussie double faulted and Fernandez ran away with the handle.

But from the start of the second set, Sanders made sure to stop the bleeding and broke Fernandez in the first game. The Canadian then broke in the 4th game of the second set.

Pre-game notes

After a two-month absence, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez finally returns to action tonight in the first round of the National Bank Open, as she takes on qualifier Storm Sanders around 8:45 p.m.

Fernandez, 13e seeded in Toronto, has not set foot since May 31 at Roland-Garros when she lost to Martina Trevisan in the quarter-finals. She had suffered a Grade 3 fracture in her right foot and has since been sidelined, a situation more difficult to manage than anticipated.

“I thought I was going to be extremely patient and that I was going to be able to take this leave and accept it. But in reality I was just anxious. I took my racket and I tried to sneak up to the tennis court, ”explained the Lavalloise on Sunday. Fernandez got the green light to compete in the National Bank Open late last week.

Facing Sanders, 273e player in the world, Fernandez will have the opportunity to reach the second round of the main draw for the first time in her career, after losses in her first match in 2019 and 2021.

A victory would allow Fernandez to join Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia in the next round, she who just claimed a victory in three sets against Trevisan earlier in the day.

Besides Fernandez, four other women will represent the maple leaf at the tournament. Katherine Sebov will be in action on Monday night in a matchup against Yulia Pituntseva.

Then on Tuesday, Bianca Andreescu, Carol Zhao and Rebecca Marino will take to the field for their first matches of the tournament.

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