Canada's Leylah Fernandez was eliminated from the Italian Open tennis tournament after a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in first-round action in Rome on Tuesday.

Fernandez, who entered the WTA 1000 clay-court tournament ranked 50th in the world, struggled with accuracy on her serve. She committed eight double-faults to Sasnovich's three and landed just 49 per cent of her first-serve attempts.

• Ex-athlete draws on own experience to promote better mental health for tennis players

• More tennis coverage

Both players lost serve five times, with Fernandez defending just four break points and Sasnovich defending seven.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., fell to 11-10 in singles competition this year.

She has had more success in doubles, reaching two finals and improving her world ranking to 38th. Fernandez and American partner Taylor Townsend will face Romania's Monica Niculescu and Japan's Makoto Ninomiya in the women's doubles first round in Rome.