Leylah Fernandez upends Liudmila Samsonova at Doha

Field Level Media|published: Mon 12th February, 11:34 2024

Jan 14, 2024; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Leylah Fernandez of Canada hits a shot against Sarah Bejlek of the Czech Republic in the first round of the women s singles. credits: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports

Canadian Leylah Fernandez upset No. 12 seed Liudmila Samsonova 7-5, 7-6 (4) in first-round action of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Monday in Doha.

Fernandez staved off six of eight break points to take down the Russian in two hours and 10 minutes. Fernandez will face Spanish wild card Paula Badosa in the second round.

Badosa survived a charge from Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that carried over from Sunday after being halted by rain. Badosa led 4-2 in the third when play resumed Monday.

Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina made quick work of wild card and former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu, 6-0, 7-6 (6) in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

Great Britain's Raducanu was done in by 48 unforced errors.

"I think I was struggling with everything like serve, return, forehand, backhand," Raducanu said. "I think it was hard because she had a really good backhand so I think even if you went line you had to make sure it was a really good shot otherwise she'd kind of take you off cross."

No. 16 seed Emma Navarro advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Italian Jasmine Paolini.

In other action, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Poland's Magdalena Frech.

"She has a game style that makes you look like you're not playing well," Azarenka said. "I think I got caught a little bit in the second set with that. I was paying a bit too much attention to my mistakes. She's getting a lot of balls in, putting a lot of different spins — with the wind, it's not easy. I'm very glad I was able to reset in the third set."

Belgian Elise Mertens cruised past Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the second round.

Croatian Petra Martic outlasted Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to advance.

Russian Anastasia Potapova advanced in straight sets over Martina Trevisan of Italy, 6-4, 6-4. Lucky loser Trevisan was a replacement for No. 9 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, who was forced to withdraw with a back injury.

Poland's Magda Linette earned a 6-1, 6-4 win over Japan's Nao Hibono.

—Field Level Media