Leylah Fernandez advances after top seed Victoria Azarenka retires from Hong Kong opener
Belarusian exits with apparent leg injury; Jelena Ostapenko dealt upset loss in Seoul
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., advanced to the second round at the Hong Kong Open when top seed Victoria Azarenka retired after two sets Tuesday in Causeway Bay.
Their match was knotted at one set each when the Belarusian called it a day after appearing to hurt her left leg. Fernandez took a 2-6, 6-3 walkover win.
Also advancing at the WTA 250 event were No. 5 seed Anna Blinkova and fellow Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Mirra Andreeva of Russia, as well as No. 6 seed Martina Trevisan of Italy.
Three weeks ago, Fernandez saw her best run at a WTA 1000 tournament end with a 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-1 quarterfinal loss to American Sofia Kenin at the Guadalajara Open in Zapopan, Mexico.
It was the first time Fernandez had made the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event, though she has progressed further at a Grand Slam. She was a U.S. Open finalist in 2021.
In doubles, Fernandez also lost in the final eight alongside American partner Taylor Townsend, dropping a 6-2, 1-6, 10-7 decision to Italy's Jasmine Paolini and Egypt's Mayar Sherif.
WATCH | Fernandez eliminated at Guadalajara Open in September:
South Korean wild cards prevail
A pair of little-known South Koreans upset Grand Slam champions in front of their home fans in first-round matches at the Hana Bank Korea Open on Tuesday in Seoul.
Wild card Dayeon Back, down 5-2 in the third set, rallied to beat second-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in two hours 13 minutes to advance. Su-Jeong Jang ousted Sofia Kenin, the No. 5 seed, 6-1, 6-4 in 91 minutes.
It was the first time two South Koreans won their opening matches in Seoul since 2013.
For Jang, ranked No. 162 in the world, the win over Kenin was her first career victory over a Top 30 opponent.
Back, ranked No. 569, was able to force Ostapenko into long rallies, and the mistakes piled up for Ostapenko. She finished with 68 unforced errors compared to 43 winners.
Top-seeded Jessica Pegula avoided the upset bug, beating Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-4. No. 4 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic also advanced in the WTA 250 event.
Shelton downs No. 4 Sinner in Shanghai
Ben Shelton advanced to his first Masters quarterfinal by beating fourth-ranked Jannik Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in Shanghai.
The 21-year-old American, a semifinalist at the U.S. Open, had 15 aces as his serve improved throughout the match.
"I had a lot of belief in my ability to serve and hang tough and to make it deep in sets," Shelton said. "My serve wasn't working that well in the first set, I felt that he was really on top of me. I really started to find my groove and had one of my best serving days in the second and third sets."
The 19th-seeded Shelton will next play Sebastian Korda, who advanced to his second Masters quarterfinal with a 7-5, 7-6 (6) victory over Francisco Cerundolo.
Fresh from his upset over third-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, Korda held off a late rally by Cerundolo and saved a set point in the second-set tiebreaker.
"I'm just super happy with the way I played in the tiebreak. I stayed calm when he was a couple of mini-breaks up and I'm just happy with how I played overall," Korda said.
Eighth-seeded Casper Ruud lost to Fabian Marozsan 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4. The 82nd-ranked Marozsan will next play either 16th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz or Zhang Zhizhen in his maiden Masters quarterfinal.
With files from The Canadian Press & Associated Press
