Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec continued her Asian swing during the 2024 tennis season with an impressive first round upset at the 2024 Wuhan Open in China on Monday. In the first round action, Fernandez, the 28th ranked player in the world, upset Russian Diana Shnaider, the 16th ranked player in the world and 12th seed in Wuhan, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.
Fernandez’s serve was working exceptionally well. She had seven aces, compared to two for Shnaider. Fernandez also broke Shnaider seven times, and won 79% of the points on her first serve, compared to only 60% for Shnaider.
This was the second time this season that Fernandez beat Shnaider. She also won 6-1, 6-4, in the third round of Cincinnati.
Fernandez’s best grand slam result of her career came on hard court at the United States Open, the same surface she is playing on in China this week. Fernandez reached the final in Flushing Meadows before losing 6-4, 6-3 to Emma Raducanu of Great Britain.
Next up for Fernandez is either Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic or Moyuka Uchijima of Japan. Muchova is also a grand slam finalist as she made the final two of the 2023 French Open. Muchova made headlines this past week as she reached the final of the China Open in Beijing, before losing to American Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3. Muchova had two huge upsets along the way. She beat the first seed, world number two, reigning Australian Open and United States Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Friday, and then the fifth seed, reigning Olympic gold medalist and 2024 Australian Open champion Qinwen Zheng of China, 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Fernandez has played Muchova twice before. Muchova won 6-4, 7-6 in the second round of the 2022 Miami Open. Fernandez won 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in the first round of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
