Building on her experience, Fernandez powers into round two at Montreal

Canadian wildcard Leylah Fernandez reached the second round of the Canadian Open by winning against American qualifier Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-2 at Stade IGA in Montreal on Tuesday.

Fernandez, ranked No 81, will play the winner of the match between Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the No 11 seed, and Pole lucky loser Magdalena Frech next.

This was the first win for Fernandez in Montreal and the young Canadian was delighted at the support she received from her home crowd.

“The crowd was amazing. I felt their positivity, their emotions, and I love that they came and supported both of us,” the 20-year-old said. “They were very respectful to my opponent and to me. So I think the crowd has been amazing, and I’m just happy that I was able to play in front of a packed house for the first time here in Montreal. I’ve heard that it has a lot of good atmosphere.”

“I think now I’m actually better than what I was doing in 2021, and we’re just trying to build on that” – Fernandez

While many may bring back comparisons to her 2021 US Open form where she made a scintillating run to the finals as a teenager, Fernandez is not focussing on working hard and trusting the process rather than chasing another big result.

“I think in the 2021 time I’m a completely different person. I was a completely different person,” the left-hander said. “Right now I have the experience. I’ve gone through some good times, some bad times, and I think now I’m actually better than what I was doing in 2021, and we’re just trying to build on that. We’re trying to keep working hard, keep trusting the process. Mistakes will happen. Matches will be lost. The most important thing is if we make the necessary corrections, and I’m happy with the team that I have that they always try to find ways to make me be better and always pushing me to be the best version of myself. So I think that’s what’s the most important thing at the moment for 2023.”

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Montreal WTA 1000, other first-round matches (Stade IGA, hard, USD 2,788,468):

• Yulia Putintseva (LL) beat Bernarda Pera: 6-3, 6-4
• Karolina Muchova (14) beat Anastasia Potapova: 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Daria Kasatkina (10) beat Elise Mertens: 6-4, 6-2
• Caroline Wozniacki (WC) beat Kimberly Birrell (Q): 6-2, 6-2
• Liudmila Samsonova (15) beat Katerina Siniakova: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
• Danielle Collins (Q) beat Elina Svitolina: 6-2, 6-2
• Alycia Parks (Q) beat Lauren Davis: 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
• Katie Boulter (Q) beat Rebecca Marino (WC): 6-3, 6-1
• Sloane Stephens beat Anhelina Kalinina: 6-4, 7-6 (2)
• Jennifer Brady beat Jelena Ostapenko: 7-6 (7), 0-6, 7-6 (8)
• Madison Keys (13) beat Venus Williams (WC): 6-2, 7-5
• Belinda Bencic (12) beat Lucia Bronzetti: 6-2, 6-3
• Sorana Cirstea beat Varvara Gracheva: 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Victoria Azarenka (16) beat Magda Linette: 6-3, 6-0
• Marie Bouzkova beat Kayla Day (Q): 7-6 (1), 6-3
• Jasmine Paolini beat Donna Vekic: 7-6 (3), 6-2
• Karolina Pliskova beat Lin Zhu: 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-2
• Camila Giorgi vs. Bianca Andreescu
• Marketa Vondrousova vs. Mayar Sherif
• Petra Martic vs. Cristina Bucsa
• Marta Kostyuk vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Anna Blinkova vs. Shuai Zhang
• Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Magdalena Frech