Leylah Fernandez is out of the singles draw on the National Bank Open.
The Canadian tennis star was upset 6-4, 6-2 by American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger in second-round motion Thursday.
Fernandez — the event’s No. 15 seed from Laval, Que. — was the final Canadian participant remaining on the nation’s signature occasion, together with the lads’s bracket in Montreal.
Marina Stakusic, a 19-year-old wild card from Mississauga, Ont., was additionally eradicated after getting thumped 6-0, 6-2 by Taylor Townsend of the U.S.
No. 1 seed Coco Gauff, in the meantime, cruised previous Yafan Wang 6-4, 6-2.
The 20-year-old American, who gained final yr’s U.S. Open and was coming off a third-round exhibiting on clay on the Paris Olympics following the grass season, performed her first hard-court match for the reason that Miami Open in April.
“It’s not easy transitioning from all these different surfaces in such a short amount of time,” Gauff mentioned. “Happy to get pushed through.”
Other seeds advancing on the $3.2-million US occasion had been No. 5 Daria Kasatkina, No. 6 Liudmila Samsonova, No. 8 Emma Navarro, No. 10 Anna Kalinskaya, No. 11 Marta Kostyuk, No. 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia and No. 14 Diana Shnaider. No. 7 Madison Keys retired from her match with a thigh damage.
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who gained this yr’s Australian Open, was slated to face Yue Yuan within the evening session.
Toronto event director Karl Hale tried to place a constructive spin on an occasion that had already handled a quantity of withdrawals final week — led by world No. 1 Iga Swiatek — earlier than the Canadians all crashed out in singles, together with 2019 winner and Mississauga product Bianca Andreescu in Tuesday’s first spherical.
“That’s the beauty with the depth of the draw,” mentioned Hale, who added Olympic bronze medallist Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa is competing in doubles. “This is the greatest show in woman’s sport.
“That’s what occurs on the WTA Tour — you simply by no means know.”
WATCH | Gabriela Dabrowski wins Olympic bronze medal ahead of NBO doubles:
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gaby Dabrowski teamed up to defeat the Netherland’s Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs 6-3, 7-6(2) to claim the Olympic bronze medal in mixed doubles tennis.
Ranked No. 25 in the world, the 21-year-old Fernandez found herself down 5-4 to Krueger in the first set, but was unable to finish the job up 40-0 with five break-point opportunities on an overcast afternoon at Sobeys Stadium.
“Fun atmosphere,” Krueger said of the partisan crowd. “Turned it round and acted like everybody was cheering for me.”
The 82nd-ranked American picked up a break in the first game of the second set and led 3-1 before holding to go up 4-2 thanks to some terrific serving.
Krueger then took a 5-2 edge on Fernandez, who didn’t register a break for the first time since last year’s third-round NBO defeat in Montreal, before finishing things off on a third match point.
The 20-year-old won 71.7 per cent of her first-serve points compared to 59.5 per cent for Fernandez.
Stakusic, meanwhile, showed some life in the second set by winning two games and getting back on serve against Townsend, but the world No. 160 couldn’t keep the momentum going against the 71st-ranked American.
Fernandez, who made the 2021 U.S. Open singles final, and younger sister Bianca were also scheduled to play doubles against Krueger and American partner Catherine Harrison later Thursday.
Edmonton’s Mia Kupres and Ariana Arseneault of Richmond Hill, Ont., advanced to the quarterfinals without swinging a racket because of an opponent’s injury.
Auger-Aliassime, Shapovalov ousted in Montreal
The NBO men’s singles competition at IGA Stadium in Montreal saw its remaining Canadians ousted Wednesday when stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov were both eliminated.
“They’re younger,” he said of Canada’s stable of talent. “There’s ebbs and flows of their profession. Felix had actually robust yr final yr. This yr he is come again actually sturdy.
“You’ll see Denis, Felix, Leylah, Bianca start to move forward again.”
