Leylah Annie Fernandez wins girls singles at 2019 French Open

French Open (Wikimedia Commons)

Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec won the girls singles competition at the 2019 French Open on Saturday. In the final, Fernandez defeated Emma Navarro of the United States 6-3, 6-2.

The other girls tennis players Fernandez beat en route to reaching the final were Mariia Tkacheva of Russia (7-5, 6-3 in the first round), Marta Custic of Spain (6-0, 6-3 in the second round), So-hyun Park of South Korea (6-2, 6-0 in the third round), Elsa Jacquemot of France (6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals) and Maria Camila Osorio Serrano of Colombia (6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals). In a dominant tournament, Fernandez did not lose a set and only lost 24 games in six matches.

Fernandez, who was seeded first, becomes the second Canadian woman to win a junior female grand slam singles title and first Canadian to win a junior singles title at the French Open. The first Canadian woman to achieve the honour was Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal, Quebec, who won the 2012 girls title at Wimbledon. Seven years ago, Bouchard defeated Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine 6-2, 6-2. Svitolina is currently ninth in the world rankings, while Bouchard is 77th.

Bouchard was not the only Canadian to win a junior singles title in Wimbledon in 2012. The other was Filip Peliwo of Vancouver, British Columbia, who defeated Luke Saville of Australia 7-5, 6-4. Peliwo also won the 2012 boys final at the U.S. Open where he beat Liam Broady of Great Britain 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

Then in 2016, Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario beat Alex De Minaur of Australia 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the boys final of Wimbledon. Then later in 2016, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec beat Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-0 in the boys final of the United States Open.

Written by 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *