Canadian teen Fernandez 1 win away from Grand slam main draw debut
Leylah Annie Fernandez is one win away from qualifying for her first-ever Grand Slam main draw.
The 17-year-old from Laval, Que., defeated the 168th-ranked Mayo Hibi 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open on Friday.
Despite committing 39 unforced errors in the match, Fernandez recorded 34 winners — 21 more than her Japanese opponent.
The Canadian teen is making her first Grand Slam appearance as a pro this week in Melbourne, Australia. She won her first-round qualifying match by upsetting Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. Tig was the seventh seed in the qualifying draw and ranked 113th in the world.
Fernandez, who won the French Open junior girls’ title last summer, will now face American Danielle Lao in the final qualification round. The 28-year-old Lao advanced by defeating Japan’s Kurumi Nara, ranked 27th in the qualifying draw, 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-3.
Later on Friday, Eugenie Bouchard will have a chance to punch her ticket to the Australian Open’s main draw. The Westmount, Que., native is set to face Italy’s Martina Trevisan with a spot in the tournament on the line.
Bouchard advanced into the Australian Open’s final qualifiers with a straight sets win against Maddison Inglis, 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Toronto’s Steven Diez and Brayden Schnur, of Pickering, Ont., failed to advance to the third and final stage of qualifying.
Diez, who was ranked 23rd in the qualification draw, fell to Japan’s Hiroki Moriya in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 on Friday.
Schnur, the third seed in qualifying, lost 7-6 (3), 6-3 to Belgium’s Kimmer Coppejans.
