Flying Fernandez outclasses Qinwen Zheng to reach the last eight in Doha
The Canadian stunned this year’s Australian Open finalist 7-5, 6-3 and will face the winner of the match between Emma Navarro and Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals
Leylah Fernandez at the 2022 US Open in New York
Image Credit: AI/ Reuters/ Panoramic
Leylah Fernandez cruised into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open in some style, defeating fifth-seed Qinwen Zheng 7-5, 6-3 courtesy of an excellent performance in Doha.
The Canadian looked much like the player who reached a maiden Grand Slam final at the 2021 US Open, striking the ball with poise and purpose to unsettle this year’s Australian Open runner-up.
Nevertheless, it was Zheng who made the first move, breaking Fernandez in the seventh game of the opening set from 40-0 down to take command of proceedings.
But the world No 38 struck back as Zheng was serving for the set two games later, albeit through a large slice of fortune as a net cord helped her over the line on break point.
Fernandez then broke again when leading 6-5 to take an absorbing opener in 58 minutes.
From there, it felt largely like one-way traffic as the Canadian mixed deep groundstrokes with clinical net-play to earn the decisive break in the sixth game of the second set. From there, she held serve to seal her first top-10 win of the season.
It was a thoroughly impressive display from the 21-year-old, who has reached her first quarter-final of 2024 in eye-catching fashion.
Prior to today’s last-16 encounter, Fernandez had taken out 12th-seed Samsonova in straight sets before recovering from a 6-0 first-set loss to dispatch Spaniard Paula Badosa with a brilliant comeback victory.
Fernandez has now backed up both of these wins with another notable scalp, defeating the in-form Zheng to move into the last eight of the year’s first 1000-level tournament.
Fernandez’s run in Qatar comes not long after a strong finish to her 2023 campaign, where she won her third WTA title in Hong Kong before leading Canada to victory in the Billie Jean King Cup.
She will play the winner of the match between Emma Navarro and world No 4 Elena Rybakina in what will be perhaps her biggest challenge in the tournament yet.
For now though, the young Canadian can revel in yet another excellent victory as Fernandez’s impressive surge continues in Doha.
