2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez entered her third-round match against Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva at the National Bank Open on Friday having lost her last seven matches against Top 10 opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She snapped that streak in a big way to match her best-ever result at her country’s signature event, and is primed for a Round of 16 clash with Naomi Osaka.<\/p>\n
Fernandez routed the No. 5 seed 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour and 21 minutes to return to not just the Round of 16 in Toronto, a result she previously recorded in Montreal in 2023, but score her first Top 10 victory in more than a year. She last beat a player ranked as highly as Andreeva when she beat then-World No. 4 Jessica Pegula on the way to winning the Mubadala DC Open last year.<\/p>\n
Fernandez cruised against an out-of-sorts Andreeva up until 6-1, 5-1, when the 20-year-old came alive to hold from 0-30 in the eighth game and close the game to 5-4. But a key forehand miss at 0-15 on Fernandez’s serve at 5-4 turned what turned out the be the final game around, and the No. 30 seed wrapped up the win three points later.<\/p>\n
That moment was a microcosm of the match from Fernandez’s perspective.<\/p>\n
“The key for me was to stay positive, stay strong, and to keep being patient. I mean, she wasn’t going to give away some easy balls,” Fernandez said afterwards. “In the beginning there were a lot of long rallies, and that was a key for me to kind of stick with it, trusting in my abilities, and to continue on playing my game throughout the match.”<\/p>\n
The stat line of the match agreed with the left-hander’s strategy. Andreeva made 19 unforced errors in the first set, and 34 for the match — double her 17 winners. Fernandez, meanwhile, was tidy with eight winners and seven unforced errors.<\/p>\n
“[I was] telling myself to put the ball back in. I mean, I’ve trained a lot growing up in being consistent and hitting like a hundred balls in a row, and trying to hit, you know, a series where none of us miss,” Fernandez continued. “It’s like that’s where I come back to. Like, I know I can do it.<\/p>\n
“There has been times where I just want to finish the point quickly, and in that moment I was like, no, trust in my abilities, trust in my fitness. I’ve put in the work. I know physically I’m strong. I know I can endure long rallies, long matches. So if it’s going to take a hundred balls to hit to put it in to break her down, then so be it.<\/p>\n
“That was kind of the mentality. I knew that if I can do it, and if I can put a little bit more pressure, I will have my chances to hit winners, or to take more chances in the point.”<\/p>\n
Osaka cruises past Mertens\u00a0<\/p>\n
Awaiting Fernandez is 2025 National Bank Open finalist Osaka, who defeated Elise Merten 6-1, 6-2 on Friday. Osaka and Fernandez have split their two previous meetings on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, with Osaka winning the most recent in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Osaka breezes past Mertens in Toronto for her sixth win in nine meetings<\/p>\n
Osaka said the toughest task with Fernandez is simply her being left-handed. As for a particular shot, it’s the left-handed serve that causes trouble for Osaka and she pinpointed to former World No. 1 Petra Kvitova’s as an example. Osaka also lauded Fernandez’ level-headed mindset throughout the match.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s tough because she’s lefty,” Osaka said. “Obviously there aren’t many lefties on tour, so it takes me awhile to get used to that. She has a really good attitude. I’ve never seen her down. She always keeps fighting. I really appreciate that about her.”<\/p>\n
In Washington, Osaka and Fernandez practiced together, but the former doesn’t typically too much value in a practice hit despite how it recent it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Truthfully, I played really bad,” Osaka laughed to press on that practice. “I hope maybe she thinks that I’ll play that bad, and she will be caught off guard. I’m the type of person that I don’t really care about practice, really. So I’m not really out there like swinging fully or anything like that.”<\/p>\n
The previous two installments were three-set classics with Fernandez taking the first at the 2021 US Open third round. Osaka said there was much more pressure as she was the defending champion, and Fernandez ultimately went on to reach the final. Four years later, Osaka won in Wuhan 10 months ago.<\/p>\n
“That was just like a whole stressful moment for me,” Osaka said of defending the US Open that year. “I think that was her big break. What I remember about her was that she was really gritty in that moment in time.<\/p>\n
“Last year was the one that I won. It was really tough. But I also felt like it’s like two different moments in time. We both grew as players and as people, so it’s really hard to say.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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