Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec, has reached the quarterfinals of the WTA tennis tournament in Doha, Qatar. In the third round on Wednesday, Fernandez, the 38th-ranked player in the world, defeated seventh-seeded player and 2024 Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng of China 7-5, 6-3.
In a game that lasted 92 minutes, Fernandez broke Zheng three times in the game, making him the more effective player. Of the 121 points, Fernandez won 68 while Zheng won 53.
This was the second career meeting between Zheng and Fernandez. The 21-year-old Canadian won his only previous match. That happened in the second round of Monterrey, Mexico, in 2022, which Fernandez won 6-1, 4-6, 7-6.
Fernandez will next face Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the third seed in the quarterfinals. Rybakina is a Grand Slam champion, having won Wimbledon in 2022. Fernandez is a Grand Slam finalist, having reached the final of the United States Open in 2021. This will be their first direct meeting.
It was quite a tournament for Fernandez in Doha. She defeated 12th seed Russian Liudmila Samsonova 7-5, 7-6 in round one and 2021 Indian Wells champion Paula Badosa of Spain 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 in round one two. In the other quarterfinals in Qatar, Danielle Collins from the USA will play against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia, Naomi Osaka from Japan against Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic and Iga Swiatek from Poland against Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.
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