Leylah Fernandez posts upset win over 12th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova at Qatar Open
Unseeded Canadian faces Spanish wild card Paula Badosa in Round 2 on Tuesday
Canadian Leylah Fernandez upset No. 12 seed Liudmila Samsonova 7-5, 7-6 (4) in first-round action of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Monday in Doha.
Fernandez staved off six of eight break points to take down the Russian in two hours 10 minutes. Fernandez will face Spanish wild card Paula Badosa in the second round on Tuesday.
Badosa survived a charge from Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that carried over from Sunday after being halted by rain. Badosa led 4-2 in the third when play resumed Monday.
Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina made quick work of wild card and former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu, 6-0, 7-6 (6) in 1 hour and 39 minutes.
WATCH | Fernandez earns straight-sets, 1st-round victory in Doha:
Great Britain's Raducanu was done in by 48 unforced errors.
"I think I was struggling with everything like serve, return, forehand, backhand," Raducanu said. "I think it was hard because she had a really good backhand so I think even if you went line you had to make sure it was a really good shot otherwise she'd kind of take you off cross."
No. 16 seed Emma Navarro advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Italian Jasmine Paolini.
In other action, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Poland's Magdalena Frech.
"She has a game style that makes you look like you're not playing well," Azarenka said. "I think I got caught a little bit in the second set with that. I was paying a bit too much attention to my mistakes. She's getting a lot of balls in, putting a lot of different spins — with the wind, it's not easy.
I'm very glad I was able to reset in the third set."
Belgian Elise Mertens cruised past Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the second round.
Croatian Petra Martic outlasted Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to advance.
Russian Anastasia Potapova advanced in straight sets over Martina Trevisan of Italy, 6-4, 6-4. Lucky loser Trevisan was a replacement for No. 9 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, who was forced to withdraw with a back injury.
Poland's Magda Linette earned a 6-1, 6-4 win over Japan's Nao Hibono.
WATCH | Fernandez ousted in 2nd round of Australian Open:
In other news, Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic were first-round singles winners on Monday at the ABN Amro Open tennis tournament.
Raonic's powerful serve was in full effect as the Canadian veteran defeated Jesper De Jong of the Netherlands 7-6 (5), 6-4 in first-round play.
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., fired 20 aces and won 97 per cent of first-serve points in his first win of the season.
He then fired back-to-back aces to set up match point before closing out the win in one hour 42 minutes.
Raonic will next face the winner of a match between eighth seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan and Croatian veteran Borna Coric.
WATCH | Raonic defeats De Jong, advances to 2nd round at Rotterdam:
Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime of Montreal battled for two hours 21 minutes to edge hardy American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8). He advanced to play the winner of a match between second-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia and qualifier Zizou Bergs of Belgium.
Auger-Aliassime held a huge advantage in aces (18-7), but had more double faults (4-3). Cressy had 14 unforced errors, while his opponent finished with 12.
The Canadian won 75 per cent of first-serve points and had more winners (39-33). Auger-Aliassime was the only player to win a game while returning.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime edges Cressy in 1st-round victory:
With files from The Canadian Press
