Canada’s Leylah Fernandez advances to U.S. Open third round, will play Sabalenka
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NEW YORK – Canada’s Leylah Fernandez rallied from one set down to defeat France’s Elsa Jacquemot 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the women’s singles second round Wednesday night at the U.S. Open.
Fernandez, the tournament’s 31st seed and 2021 runner-up, won only one service game in the first set, claiming just 42 per cent of the points on first serve.
The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., found a rhythm in the second and third sets, holding serve the rest of the way while breaking Jacquemot three times to win the match in two hours 16 minutes.
Fernandez cruised through the first round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino.
She’ll play world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round on Friday. Sabalenka won 7-6 (4), 6-2 over Polina Kudermetova later Wednesday.
In their only previous meeting, Fernandez upset Sabalenka in three sets to reach the 2021 U.S. Open final.
Fernandez is also competing in the women’s doubles draw alongside tennis legend Venus Williams.
The 45-year-old Williams, who has won seven Grand Slam singles trophies and 14 major titles in doubles, entered the tournament with Fernandez as a wild card.
They’ll face the sixth-seeded pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Ellen Perez of Australia in the first round Thursday.
Williams is appearing at her first Grand Slam tournament in two years after making a comeback to pro tennis in July following 16 months away from the tour.
She lost in three sets to 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova in the women’s singles first round.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand — the women’s doubles third seeds — play Czech team Marketa Vondrousova and Miriam Skoch.
In men’s singles, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Montrealers Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriel Diallo are all scheduled to play second-round matches.
The 27th-seeded Shapovalov faces France’s Valentin Royer, Auger-Alissime — the 25th seed — takes on Russia’s Roman Safiullin, and the 31st-seeded Diallo meets Spain’s Jaume Munar.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.