Australian teenager Maya Joint has brought in-form local hope Leylah Fernandez crashing back down to Earth at the Canadian Open, where top seed Coco Gauff was given an almighty scare before advancing.<\/p>\n
Fernandez, a former US Open finalist now ranked 24th in the world, collected the biggest title of her career on Sunday when she won the DC Open in Washington, thrashing Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-2 in the final.<\/p>\n
But her return home in triumph did not last long, with Joint beating the Quebec native 6-4, 6-1 in Montreal on Tuesday (local time).<\/p>\n
It was quick revenge for Joint, who lost 6-3, 6-3 to Fernandez in the first round in Washington.<\/p>\n
Fernandez later criticised the scheduling in Montreal, saying she had been hoping for extra rest before returning to the court in Canada.<\/p>\n
She said she had received “a lot of promises” that she would play during Tuesday’s night session, giving her more time to recover between the two tournaments, but learned on Sunday while travelling that would not be the case.<\/p>\n
“That hurt me because I was very looking forward to be playing at night, but I guess it’s a little bit political issues at that point,” Fernandez said.<\/p>\n
Instead, top-seeded Gauff played fellow American Danielle Collins to open the night session.<\/p>\n
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Coco Gauff survived a major scare against American compatriot Danielle Collins to advance. (Getty Images: Minas Panagiotakis)<\/p>\n
Montreal tournament director Valerie Tetreault said she promised Fernandez she would “fight so that she could have the time she wanted”, but that ultimately the WTA Tour determined scheduling.<\/p>\n
The scheduling almost backfired, with Gauff being pushed to the brink before squeaking past Collins 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2).<\/p>\n