Quebecer Leylah Fernandez made an appointment with defending United States Open champion Naomi Osaka, while her compatriot Félix Auger-Aliassime also crossed the second round.
Fernandez won 7-5, 7-5 against Estonian Kaia Kanepi on Wednesday. For his part, Auger-Aliassime, 12th seed in the men’s singles table, defeated Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2.
Fernandez, who occupies the 73rd rank in the world, needed 1 hour 56 minutes to overthrow her rival ranked 70 in the world.
The 18-year-old Laval resident had a roller coaster game.
After getting his hands on the first set at his first opportunity – obtaining the first break of service of the game in the 12th game – Fernandez was broken from the start in the second set.
After a delay of rain, Fernandez clung to her rival and regained her composure.
On serve for the second set at 5-4, Kanepi wasted two opportunities to force a final set presentation. Fernandez managed to break the Estonian’s serve.
After winning his game on serve, Fernandez broke her rival again to win over a mistake by Kanepi.
In the next round, Fernandez will therefore face off against Osaka, the third seed. The 23-year-old Japanese sensation took advantage of Olga Danilovic’s forfeit to get through the second round without having to contest a single point on Wednesday.
Osaka triumphed at the US Open in 2018 and 2020, and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
For his part, Auger-Aliassime worked for 2 hours 13 minutes against Zapata Miralles.
Both players were efficient on serve in the first inning, with neither awarding a break point.
Auger-Aliassime gave himself a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker. Zapata Miralles saved two set points before ceding it to his rival.
The pace of the game changed from the first game of the second set. Auger-Aliassime wasted the first two break points of the game.
The Quebec tennis player finally won the first service break of the game in game five. He again broke Zapata Miralles’ serve in game seven to find himself serving for the set at 5-2.
Zapata Miralles hung on by breaking Auger-Aliassime’s serve for the first time, but lost the next game, and therefore the second set.
Auger-Aliassime quickly finished his rival in the third set, going for two more breaks of service. He finished the game with 34 winning moves to his record, against nine for Zapata Miralles.
Zapata Miralles, 116th in the world, committed 30 unforced errors.
In the third round, Auger-Aliassime will cross swords with the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, 18th seed. The latter defeated the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
For her part, Ontarian Gabriela Dabrowski was due to start her mixed doubles course with New Zealander Marcus Daniell. They had an appointment with the Brazilians Luisa Stefani and Marcelo Melo.
Dabrowski and Stefani team up in the women’s doubles and are the fifth seed in New York.
Recall of Ontarian Bianca Andreescu advanced to the second round at the United States Open on Tuesday night, winning 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 ahead of Viktorija Golubic. Sixth headliner at Flushing Meadows, she beat the Swiss in two hours and 48 minutes.
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