(Montreal) Leylah Annie Fernandez lost 6-3, 6-4 to 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the first round of the Madrid tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Fernandez, the 38th racket in the world, was messy against the Russian who is at 194th in the WTA rankings, bending over after an hour and 16 minutes on Spanish clay.
The 20-year-old Lavalloise didn’t seem to be on her plate from the start. She posted a success rate with her first serve of just 59.6%, against 70.1% for the Russian.
Moreover, Fernandez won only 57.1% of the points with his first ball, and 63.2% with his second. By comparison, Andreeva won 68.1% with her first, and 65% with her second.
The Quebecer also lacked opportunism in the key moments of the match, being limited to a single break of service in six occasions. For her part, Andreeva stole Fernandez’s serve three times from five opportunities en route to victory.
Andreeva will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, the tournament’s 13th seed, in the second round.
In addition, Quebecer Eugenie Bouchard will begin her singles course a little later today against Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska.
