Leylah Fernandez is on a great winning streak, extending it to seven matches at the 2023 Jiangxi Open, a WTA 250 tournament in Nanchang.
After her final run at the 2021 US Open, many expected the young Canadian to shoot to the stars, yet, that did not really happen. While playing solid tennis, she missed big results, and those now seem to be coming.
Fernandez won the 2023 Hong Kong Open, and she returned to the Top 50 as a result. Immediately after her triumph, the 21-year-old wasted no time as she moved to Nanchang for the 2023 Jiangxi Open.
After winning first-round match against Hanyu Guo, the Canadian had to wait for her second-round match, as that was postponed, and because of that, she'll have to play two matches on Friday.
In her second-round match, she took on another native player, Xiaodi You, who defeated Anna Blinkova in the opening round. The Chinese player was an underdog in the match, and it showed.
Already in the third game of the opening set, Fernandez managed to break her opponent's serve, but she couldn't maintain the advantage throughout the set, eventually losing the one-break advantage in the eighth game.
Yet, the Canadian was able to immediately break back, and after a hold of serve, she won the opening set 6-4. After a first-set success, the second set saw dominance from the Canadian player.
She broke her opponent's serve three times and at 5-0, Fernandez serve to bagel her opponent in the second set. But she lost her serve, but recovered quickly after that, winning the second set and the match 6-4, 6-1.
Fernandez reached the 2023 Jiangxi Open quarterfinals, and she will take on Aliaksandra Sasnovich in that match, which will be played later on Friday. Should she win the match, her semifinal opponent will be either Katerina Siniakova or Laura Siegemund.