It wasn’t vintage Leylah Fernandez, but the 21-year-old from Laval, Que., found a way to grind out a victory on Saturday in her opening singles match at the 15-day Australian Open.
Fernandez needed a tiebreaker to win the first set 7-6 (5) in an hour against 17-year-old qualifier Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic, then won the second 6-2 in 31 minutes to advance.
Fernandez finished with two aces, two double faults, one tiebreak victory and 18 unforced errors.
“Sara is a very good young player,” said Fernandez, who was ousted in the first round last year at the U.S. Open. “I’m super-happy I was able to play some good points in important moments. It feels good.”
Racing to the finish line 🏁<a href=”https://twitter.com/leylahfernandez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@leylahfernandez</a> starts her fortnight with a 7-6(5) 6-2 win over Bejlek.<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusOpen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#AusOpen</a> • <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AO2024?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#AO2024</a> <a href=”https://t.co/KuAEiPhNHc”>pic.twitter.com/KuAEiPhNHc</a>
—@AustralianOpen
Bejlek had no aces, one double fault and 12 unforced errors.
Fernandez was good on 71 per cent of her first serves and won 33 points on the first serve. She won eight service games and four return games.
Fernandez will play the winner of the match between American Alycia Parks and qualifier Daria Snigur of Ukraine.
Djokovic going for record 25th Grand Slam title
Novak Djokovic was set to open his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title in the night session on Rod Laver Arena. He’s on a 28-match winning streak at Melbourne Park.
The 10-time Australian Open champion’s first-round match is against Dino Prizmic, who won the junior title at last year’s French Open.
Aryna Sabalenka was scheduled to start her title defence against Ella Seidel in the last match of the day on the main show court.
Andre Agassi, who won the last of his four Australian titles in 2003, joined Evonne Goolagong Cawley to carry the trophies into the tennis complex before play began on the first of the tournament’s three Sundays.
Tournament organizers are honouring Goolagong Cawley on the 50th anniversary of the first of her four Australian Open titles in 1974. She also won Wimbledon twice and the French Open once.