Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez worked hard to overcome Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday to reach the round of 16 of the Wuhan Open tennis tournament.

Fernandez, ranked 28th in the world, took two hours and 55 minutes to seal the outcome of her match against Rakhimova, ranked 66th in the world, on Chinese soil.

The Laval player will face the Chinese Zheng Qinwen in the next round, gold medalist at the Paris Olympic Games, who beat the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 6-4.

Fernandez started the match against Rakhimova on a high note, but she could not keep up the pace. The representative of the maple leaf was very messy in her game from the second set onwards, and she finished the match with a total of 12 double faults — compared to only two for her rival.

Additionally, Fernandez converted five of her 12 break points, while Rakhimova made four breaks in 10 chances. Both players also scored an ace each during their duel.
Elsewhere, Ontario’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her New Zealand partner Erin Routliffe came from behind to defeat China’s Wang Yafan and Xu Yifan 0-6, 6-4, 11-9 in the round of 16 of the women’s doubles tournament.

Dabrowski and Routliffe, the tournament favourites, will face Kazakh Anna Danilina and Russian Irina Khromacheva in the quarter-finals. They defeated Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu 4-6, 6-0, 10-8.

Sabalenka remains undefeated in Wuhan
World number two Aryna Sabalenka continued her unstoppable streak in Wuhan by ousting world number 37 Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.

Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion who received a bye into the second round, broke her Czech rival’s serve twice in each set — and was broken once — to prevail after one hour and 34 minutes.

In the third round, the 26-year-old Belarusian will face Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, who slowed down the progress of Paris Games silver medallist Donna Vekic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

The reigning U.S. Open champion is now 13-0 in Wuhan, having won the title in her first appearance in 2018 and defending her title the following year. The tournament was canceled the next five years due to health restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the WTA’s boycott of China.

Sabalenka needs to reach the quarter-finals in Wuhan to take the world number one ranking from Iga Swiatek. The Pole has been conspicuous by her absence during this Asian tour, citing fatigue and personal reasons. In addition, she recently broke off ties with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.

Gauff wins against Tomova
On the other hand, six Americans played in the second round on Wednesday.

China Open champion Coco Gauff beat Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-2 in 75 minutes, while Hailey Baptiste upset world No. 10 Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5. It was her first win over a top-10 player.

Meanwhile, Magdalena Frech beat sixth seed Emma Navarro 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, while world No 11 Daria Kasatkina overcame a mid-match slump to beat American Bernarda Pera 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Amanda Anisimova retired during her duel against world number 17 Marta Kostyuk.

World number three Jessica Pegula reached the round of 16 after taking advantage of Anastasia Potapova’s retirement when the American was leading 6-2, 2-0.

Then, at the end of the day, Erika Andreeva won her first career duel on the WTA circuit against her sister Mirra 6-3, 6-1 in 90 minutes.