Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec came through with an impressive upset on Thursday at the Cincinnati Open. In the second round, Fernandez, the 2021 United States Open finalist, defeated the fourth seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4. One key statistic in the match was the fact that Rybakina had 17 double faults.
This was Fernandez’s first ever win over Rybakina. In their only previous meeting, Rybakina won 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of Doha in February this year. Fernandez’s other win at the 2024 Cincinnati Open came on Wednesday in the first round, when she beat Yue Yuan of China 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Next up for Fernandez is Russia’s Diana Shnaider. This will be their first meeting head to head. Shnaider made headlines earlier this month when she won an Olympic silver medal in women’s doubles with Mirra Andreeva at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with the Individual Neutral Athletes.
Meanwhile, Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal is playing Casper Ruud of Norway in the second round on Friday. Auger-Aliassime has beaten Ruud thrice in six meetings. The first time was in the first round of Miami in 2018 (3-6, 6-1, 6-2). The second time was in the fourth round of Madrid in 2024 (6-4, 7-5), The third time was in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 (6-4, 6-7, 6-3).
