(Melbourne) Leylah Fernandez overcame some rust and nervous moments early in the match before finding her bearings and eliminating France’s Alizé Cornet 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday .

“It was difficult to face a friend,” said the Quebecer about her opponent.

“I managed my emotions well, and the heat even more,” she added in a post-match interview.

Fernandez has moreover given credit to her parents for her maturity, despite the fact that she is only 20 years old.

“The ratio of mental work to physical work is about three to one,” she admitted.

” It’s difficult. You are alone in the field. Most of the time there is no coach with you, or your coach can’t chat with you between points… You have to find solutions on your own, you have to be your own cheerleader, your biggest critic, your biggest supporter. »

The young player is however optimistic for the future.

“I want to improve, every day,” she said, bluntly.

“I want to see what my body and my mind can achieve…I feel like I’m ready for the challenges that will come in the next round,” added Fernandez.

The 20-year-old Lavalloise, 40^e in the world, faced 0-2 and 1-3 deficits in the first set before finding his rhythm and winning the first set in 55 minutes.

Victim of a break in the first game of the match, Fernandez brought the duel back to even service thanks to a break in the sixth game. She ended this first set thanks to her second break of the match, in the 12^e Game.

Fernandez was more effective in the second set, especially on her serve, where she gave her 32-year-old, 34-ranked rival no chance to break.^e in the world.

She broke away from Cornet with a break in the sixth game to give herself a 4-2 lead. She ended the match with another break of serve, when Cornet sent a backhand over the baseline.

Fernandez finished the match with two aces, only one double fault, 25 winners and 29 unforced errors. By comparison, Cornet had two aces but committed seven double faults, scored 14 winners and 32 unforced errors.

In the second round, Fernandez will face another Frenchwoman, and not the least, Caroline Garcia, seeded fourth.

Garcia said she was looking forward to battling it out with the Canadian, who she described as “a very talented left-hander.”

“If you want to go all the way in a Grand Slam tournament, then you have to beat some very tough players… It will be a good test,” she admitted in an on-court interview, about Fernandez.

“I will have to play to my full potential, that’s for sure. I will train tomorrow [mercredi]then find myself on the ground and try to be more aggressive than her, ”continued the right-hander.

Garcia reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Canadian Katherine Sebov in 65 minutes.

24 years old and ranked 191^e in the world, this was Sebov’s first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.

The Canadian fought a good battle against Garcia during the first six games and even gave herself two break points in the fifth game, which the Frenchwoman was able to erase.

Garcia had the first break of service of the match in the eighth game before completing the first set by winning all four points on his serve.

In the second set, Garcia won in just 25 minutes and only conceded seven points to her opponent.

Tuesday evening, Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime will play his second round match against Slovakian Alex Molcan, while Ontario’s Denis Shapovalov will face Japanese Taro Daniel. On the women’s side, Ontario’s Bianca Andreescu will face Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in the second round.