Canada’s Leylah Fernández began her Monterrey Open title defense on Monday with a win over Slovakia’s Anna Schmiedlova in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament.
In the first round, 19-year-old Fernández, a 2021 US Open runner-up, showed precision on her serve and hurt the Slovak from the back of the court as she broke games two and four to pull away 4-0.
The 27-year-old European adjusted her shot, improved her serve, broke a serve and made it 4-2, a reaction the Canadian contained with a break in the eighth that made it 6-2 in the set.
Fernandez, the second seed, broke again quickly in the second set of games one and five and with her serve consummated her 6-2 superiority in the set and the match.
Earlier fourth seeded Spaniard Sara Sorribes defeated Russian Kamilla Rakhimova in straight sets 7-5, 6-7, 6-1.
The first set was tied until the Iberian tennis player, world number 36, broke in games nine and eleven and with her serve won the set 7-5.
The parity in the second set forced a tie-break which the Russian won 7-2 and the set 7-6.
Sorribes Tormo closed strong with a few breaks and won 6-1 in the third set.
In another match, fifth-seeded Colombian Camila Osorio defeated Poland’s Magdalena Frech in straight sets 6-3, 7-6.
In the first set, the Colombian dominated from the back of the court and broke in games three, seven and nine to win 6-3.
Frech pushed in the second set, broke in the eleventh game, took a 6-5 lead, but failed to serve; the round required a tie-break in which Osorio won 8-6; 7-6 a set.
Mexico’s Marcela Zacarías also made it past the first round, beating American Harmony Tan 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.
In the first match of the day, Brazilian Beatriz Haddad eliminated Hungarian Panna Udvardy in three sets, 1-6, 6-1 and 7-5.
In other duels on Monday, Britain’s Heather Watson passed the round of the best 32 with partials of 6-3, 2-6 and 7-6 ahead of Germany’s Jule Niemeier and Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova, who beat the France’s Diane Parry 6 – 4 and 6-0.
The Monterrey Open distributes a prizepool of $235,000.
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