Canada’s Leylah Fernandez knocked out of Aussie Open by No. 4 Caroline Garcia

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MELBOURNE, Australia – Canada’s Leylah Fernandez was eliminated from women’s singles play at the Australian Open after dropping a second-round match to Caroline Garcia of France 7-6 (5), 7-5 on Thursday.

Garcia dominated with the serve, delivering 11 aces in a spirited match that lasted one hour and 52 minutes at Rod Laver Stadium.

The tournament’s fourth seed also converted two of three breakpoint opportunities, while Fernandez capitalized on just one of nine.

“”I felt after the first set it was a little bit of a robbery from my side,” said Garcia, who won the WTA Finals in November in Texas. “(Fernandez) was pretty much up the whole time, I couldn’t really find my rhythm, but I just tried to play one point at a time, stay in the present and it was very important for me.”

The 20-year-old Montreal native is still scheduled to team with partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. in women’s doubles play in Melbourne. The pair will meet Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia and China’s Zhang Shuai later today.

Also today, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and partner Giuliana Olmos, seeded third in women’s doubles, open their tournament against American Shelby Rogers and Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.

In men’s singles play, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the tournament’s sixth seed, is set to face No. 28 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in a third-round match, while No. 20 Denis Shapovalov, of Richmond Hill, Ont., meets No. 10 Hubert Hurkaczv of Poland

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2023.