MIAMI – Leylah Annie Fernandez lost 6-4, 7-6 (3) to Czech Karolina Muchova in the second round of the Miami Tennis Open on Thursday.
Fernandez, the 18th seed of the tournament, bowed after two hours and 13 minutes of fighting in the Florida cement. It was the first duel between the two players in their WTA Tour career.
Lavalouaz shot two aces, made three double faults and converted three of her 10 break points against Moutsova. On the other hand, his opponent had three aces and four double faults, while he got four breaks in 10 opportunities.
So it was a second consecutive defeat for Fernandez in the simple, after the one he conceded in the round of 16 of the Indian Wells Open, by the Spaniard Paula Badosa.
The 19-year-old Quebec had the same fate as her compatriot Rebecca Marino, who lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the first round to Czech Katerina Siniakova the day before in Miami.
Fernandez had said goodbye in the first round.
Sparkling Osaka
Muchova, 74th in the world, will cross swords in the next round with Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who easily eliminated Germany’s Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-3 in a duel between two former No. 1s in the world.
The final score perfectly shows the pace of the match. Osaka gained 89 percent of the points after cutting its first serve in the game and 61 of the 100 points were contested during the match.
“It means a lot to me,” admitted Osaka, who is not ranked among the top spores in the women’s draw. Japan dropped to 77th place in the world rankings after being left out for a long time to focus on its mental health in recent years.
“She is the first top player I have won this year,” Osaka said.
Kerber entered the tournament 15th in the world rankings. However, we had to return to the semifinals of the Australian Open 2021 to repeat Osaka’s last victory against a top-15. She had defeated the American Serena Williams, then holder of the 10th place in the world ranking.
Osaka eventually won this tournament and has not reached a final since. However, her performance against Kerber, who had four wins in five games against the Japanese, gives the impression that Osaka is a contender for the title.
“I entered the match focusing on playing my style,” explained Osaka, who did not accept a set in her first two outings in the tournament.
“I still have in my mind all the games where he won me in the past. So yes, I was hoping to play as well as I could. It works. »
In other women’s singles, eighth Ons Jabeur and ninth Danielle Collins advanced to the next round.
On the men’s side, American Sebastien Korda defeated Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-1 in a first round match.
“I’m a guy from Florida,” Corda said. I like the humidity. Heat and humidity are the two things I like most. “I play very good tennis in these conditions.”
For their part, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will not start their single journey before Saturday.
Shapovalov will play a double on Friday, however, with Indian Rohan Bopanna. This will also apply to Fernandez, who will work with the American Ingrid Neel.
