Leylah Fernandez had a chance to reach the semifinals of the tournament in Cleveland, the last game before the US Open, but was defeated in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 by Tatjana Maria on THURSDAY.
The German took advantage of Anhelina Kalinina’s failure in the preliminary round and went into her match against the Quebecer, who had only lost two games in two encounters, with a lot of self-confidence.
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The breaks of serve were very numerous and Fernandez himself came out of the game with a break of serve five times. She won only three games with balls in her hands and scored just 53% of the points on her first try.
On Tuesday, the 72nd player in the world completely dominated Clara Tauson and reached the quarterfinals. Fernandez had won the first set in six short games and after a long consultation with the doctor, her Danish rival had decided to retire before the second set.
In the next round, Maria meets the winner of the duel between ninth seed Sloane Stephens and Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo. The 36-year-old tennis player won the tournament in Barranquilla, Colombia last week.
Fernandez, meanwhile, will travel to Flushing Meadows for her first-round match at the US Open on Monday. In this final Grand Slam of the 2023 season, 20-year-old Lavalloise will cross swords with 22nd favorite Ekaterina Aleksandrova.