Leylah Annie Fernandez celebrates a victory at the French OpenAP Photo/Christophe Ena
AP Photo/Christophe Ena

Leylah Annie Fernandez advances to Monterrey Open semis

Leylah Annie Fernandez will play in the Monterrey Open semifinals on Saturday after defeating Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals on Friday.

In their first time meeting on the court, 18-year-old Fernandez played a confident match to secure her win over Kuzmova in just under two hours.

Despite dropping her first serve to give Kuzmova an immediate break, Fernandez worked hard to level things out. At 3-3, Kuzmova double faulted twice to give Fernandez an opportunity to take the first set.

In the second set, the Quebec native took a decisive 4-0 lead over the Slovakian. While Kuzmova fought back, Fernandez was determined to take the match over her 104th-ranked opponent.

This marks the 18-year-old’s first semifinal of the 2021 tennis season.

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Next up, she’ll face Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo in the semis on Saturday night. Tormo is coming off a recent win against fellow Canadian Genie Bouchard in Guadalajara, Mexico.