Leylah Fernandez and Rebecca Marino lost in the first round

(Abu Dhabi) Canadians Leylah Annie Fernandez and Rebecca Marino did not last long at the Abu Dhabi Tennis Open, as they both lost early on Tuesday.

Fernando, 39^e player in the world, fought hard before falling 6-4, 6-7 (5) and 6-1 to American Shelby Rogers, 46^e, after two hours and 19 minutes of play on the hard surface. Rogers thus increased his career record against the Lavalloise to 3-1 – Fernandez’s only victory having occurred in their previous duel, at the Indian Wells Masters last year.

The service of the 20-year-old Quebecer was sorely lacking against the American. She only won 64.5% of the points with her first ball, while her rival won 80.7% of the points in the same circumstances.

Fernandez nevertheless rolled up her sleeves in the second set to snatch her from the clutches of her rival, setting the stage for an ultimate round. This, however, went one way, in favor of Rogers.

The representative of the maple leaf finished the meeting with three breaks in six opportunities, while the American proved to be more opportunistic and stole her serve four times in as many occasions.

Rogers will face Estonian Anett Kontaveit, the tournament’s seventh seed, in the next round.

Earlier in the morning, Marino lost 6-3, 6-3 to China’s Qinwen Zheng, 29^e world racket. Marina, 74^e in the world, now has a career record of 0-3 against Zheng.

The British Columbian was dominated by her opponent on serve, in addition to having been particularly messy in her game – she committed six double faults, against only one for her rival. Zheng also fired a total of 10 aces, and limited Marino to four.

In addition, the Chinese converted three of her seven break points against the representative of the maple leaf, and she managed to erase the only one she offered during the confrontation.

Zheng wrapped up the match after an hour and 18 minutes, setting the stage for a second-round duel against fifth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. This is a tough opponent, since the latter won the French Open in 2017.

Marino and Fernandez had reached the main draw of the tournament after winning two qualifying matches each earlier this week.

Later today, Ontario’s Bianca Andreescu, 37^e racket in the world, will have an appointment in the first round with the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, 45^e. The winner of this clash will then have to face the sixth seed of the tournament, the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia.