Leylah Annie Fernandez reached the third round of the Indian Wells tournament on Saturday, when she took advantage of the withdrawal of her opponent Amanda Anisimova after two sets of play.
Dominated by its American opponent until then, Fernandez used its reserves to save three consecutive points, when it fell 2-6, 4-5.
Fueling Anisimova’s sudden hesitation and the energy of the crowd, young Lavalloise won a one-sided tiebreak minutes later, 7-0.
Then it seemed like we were going for a third and final set, but Anisimova informed the referee that she felt sick and was losing.
“We were playing a good game and when she told me she was sick, I immediately hoped it would be better to play more good games like this,” Fernandez said in a post-match interview.
The 19-year-old left-hander admitted that he had a simple recipe to survive match points.
“I tell myself not to lose,” Fernandez said simply before laughing at his own answer.
“I enjoy the moment and the battle. It happens rarely and you have to look for solutions and this time I was able to find them at the right time. »
Fernandez will face another United States representative in the next round, Shelby Rogers
Earlier on Saturday, Denis Shapovalov also won his first match of the singles tournament, returning to beat Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
In the women’s doubles at Indian Wells, Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Giuliana Olmos defeated Kirsten Flipkens and Sania Mirza 6-4, 4-6, 10-3 to reach the quarterfinals.
