By Canadian Press

Canadians Fernandez, Auger-Aliassime advance to third round at U.S. Open

Sep 1, 2021 | 1:50 PM

NEW YORK — Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open with straight-sets victories on Wednesday.

Fernandez moved on with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi. The closely contested match came down in part to Fernandez’s better defence of break points.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., was broken once on eight break-point chances. The Canadian converted three of nine chances against Kanepi.

Kanepi didn’t help her cause with 50 unforced errors, compared to the 36 committed by Fernandez.

Both players made their serves count, with Fernandez winning 80 per cent of first-serve points, compared to 78 per cent for Kanepi.

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Fernandez will next face third seed Naomi Osaka of Japan. It will be Fernandez’s first time facing the defending U.S. Open champion.

Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime, seeded 12th in the men’s draw, defeated Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2. 

In a well-rounder performance, Auger-Aliassime had 12 aces and won 73 per cent of first-serve points and 83 per cent of available net points.

Zapata Miralles won 65 per cent of first-serve points without registering an ace and had just nine winners to Auger-Aliassime’s 35.

Next up for Auger-Aliassime is a match against 18th seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. The players have split their two previous meetings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2021.

The Canadian Press