Canada’s Leylah Fernandez advanced to the second round of the French Open on Sunday, beating Magda Linette of Poland 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, in a first-round match.
Fernandez now leads the head-to-head 2-1, having also beaten Linette in three sets in the first round of Roland-Garros back in 2020. Fernandez entered the tournament ranked 49th in the WTA rankings, while Linette was ranked 21st.
The 20-year-old from Laval, Que., overcame some difficulties with her serve, including issues with her ball toss, to secure the victory. She committed nine double faults and only hit two aces throughout the match.
But she managed to create 13 breakpoint opportunities and converted three, including one late in the third set to give her a 5-3 lead.
In the first set, Fernandez quickly found herself trailing when Linette broke her serve in the third game and took a 2-1 lead. Fernandez responded by breaking Linette’s serve twice to take the set.
Fernandez also had a poor start to the second set, conceding the first three games en route to losing the set.
In the deciding set, Fernandez committed only one double fault and won 12 out of 15 second-serve points.
Fernandez, who reached the French Open quarter-finals last year, is scheduled to play Denmark’s Clara Tauson in the next round. Tauson beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 6-0, in the first round.
Three Canadians are in action on Monday. Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime plays Italian Fabio Fognini, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., faces American Brandon Nakashima, and Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino takes on Russia’s Diana Shnaider.
Toronto’s Bianca Andreescu is set to open her tournament on Tuesday against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
The highest-seeded player to go home on Sunday was No. 7 Maria Sakkari, who lost 7-6 (5), 7-5 to 42nd-ranked Karolina Muchova in what wasn’t necessarily that momentous of an upset. Both have been major semi-finalists, and Muchova has won her past four Slam matches against players ranked in the top 10 – including beating Sakkari at the French Open last year.
The first seeded man to bow out was No. 20 Dan Evans, eliminated 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 by wild-card entry Thanasi Kokkinakis. No. 11 Karen Khachanov, a semi-finalist at the past two majors, came all the way back after dropping the opening two sets to beat Constant Lestienne, a French player once banned for gambling, by a 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 score in front of a boisterous crowd at Court Suzanne Lenglen. Two-time Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas came within a point of being forced to a fifth set, too, but got past Jiri Vesely 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7). No. 24 Sebastian Korda, who missed three months after hurting his wrist at the Australian Open, was a straight-set winner in an all-American matchup against Mackenzie McDonald, the last player to face – and beat – Rafael Nadal. The 14-time French Open champion has been sidelined with a hip injury since that match in January.