Canadian Leylah Fernandez starred in one of the great surprises of the day this Tuesday at the Lexington tournament after defeating American Sloane Stephens, champion of the US Open 2017 and finalist at Roland Garros 2018, 6-3 and 6-3 after one hour and 13 minutes of play.
At 17, Fernandez, number 120 in the WTA ranking, is one of the great promises of Canadian tennis and it seemed that his progression would slow down due to the coronavirus pandemicAlthough after what was seen this Tuesday in Lexington it seems the break has not had too much impact on him.
During this 2020 season Fernandez managed to enter the final draw of the Australian Open although he fell in the first round to Lauren Davis. A few days later, the Canadian achieved a prestigious victory against Belinda Bencic, number 5 in the WTA ranking, although she could not get Canada to go to the final phase of the Federation Cup.
However, that allowed Fernandez to break out in tournaments on the Mexican tour. At Acapulco Mexican Open the Canadian managed to pass the previous one and with an overwhelming superiority (she did not give up any set until the final) she planted in the title match, where she fell to Heather Watson in three sets. Fernandez also maintained these sensations at the Open GNP Seguros de Monterrey, where he also got rid of Stephens in the second round and where only Elina Svitolina was able to slow down her progress in the quarterfinals. Leylah Fernandez, the new promise of Canadian tennis, she wants to keep progressing at Lexington and on the WTA circuit.