Leylah Fernandez pulls off early upset in Wuhan

Leylah Fernandez rallied for a 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-3 victory Monday over 12th-seeded Russian Diana Shnaider on the opening day of the Wuhan Open in China.

The unseeded Canadian rebounded after missing three set points in the opening set. She also survived 10 double faults by converting seven of 13 break chances during the 2-hour, 40-minute match.

Fernandez will meet either Czech Karolina Muchova or Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima in the second round.

The Wuhan Open returns to the WTA calendar for the first time since 2019. No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is the two-time defending champion, winning in 2018 and 2019.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland withdrew from the WTA 1000 tournament last week after announcing her split with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.

The other seeded players in action Monday safely advanced. No. 9 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil defeated Madison Keys 7-6 (7), 6-2. No. 10 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia ousted Anna Bondar of Hungary 6-1, 6-3 in 74 minutes. No. 15 Donna Vekic of Croatia rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Belgium's Elise Mertens.

Poland's Magdalena Frech defeated Japan's Mai Hontama 6-0, 6-4 and will face sixth-seeded Emma Navarro next.

Yue Yuan of China overcame an early stumble for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of France's Clara Burel, setting up a meeting with No. 3 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

Russia's Erika Andreeva knocked out Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska 7-5, 6-4.

China's Xinyu Wang saved all four break points in a 6-4, 6-0 defeat of Caroline Dolehide. Two of Dolehide's fellow Americans had better luck, with Bernarda Pera outlasting Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and Hailey Baptiste moving past France's Diane Parry 6-4, 7-5.

American Katie Volynets was not as fortunate, falling to Russia's Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Potapova will take on second-seeded Jessica Pegula in the second round.

--Field Level Media