Serena Williams' former coach delighted by Leylah Fernandez's "big win" at French Open after "tough few months"
Leylah Fernandez's hard-fought win over Magda Linette in her tournament opener at the 2023 French Open caught the eye of Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs.
Fernandez had a shaky start to the match, giving away an early break to Linette, who took a 3-1 lead in the opening set. The Canadian bounced back strong to convert two break-point opportunities and won five games in a row to secure the first set 6-3. However, she was unable to carry her momentum into the second set, going down 0-3 before Linette leveled their scores.
In a tense deciding set, the 20-year-old secured a crucial break to take a 5-3 lead. After double faulting on her first match point, Fernandez converted her second to register a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over the Pole.
Rennae Stubbs took to social media and shared her delight at Leylah Fernandez's victory, highlighting the challenging times the Canadian had faced over the past year.
"Happy for @leylahfernandez !! Been a tough few months/year so happy to see her get a big win," Stubbs tweeted.
Happy for @leylahfernandez !! Been a tough few months/year so happy to see her get a big win.
After reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2022, Leylah Fernandez suffered an injury to her foot which kept her on the sidelines for two months. Upon her return to the tour in August 2022, the Canadian struggled to regain her form, facing several early exits during the hardcourt swing last year which carried forward to the 2023 season as well.
Fernandez commenced her claycourt season at the Charleston Open, losing to Paula Badosa in the second round in straight sets. She then suffered first-round exits at the Madrid Open and Italian Open. The Canadian reached the semifinals of the ITF Spain 17A before falling in the Round of 16 at the Morocco Open in the lead-up to the French Open.
Leylah Fernandez will be up against Clara Tauson in French Open 2R
Leylah Fernandez will take on Danish qualifier Clara Tauson in the second round of the French Open. This will mark the pair's first-ever meeting on the WTA tour. However, they previously faced off in the 2019 Junior Australian Open final which saw Tauson emerge as the winner.
The Dane defeated Katie Swan and Petra Marcinko in straight sets in her initial qualifying rounds. She then took out Mirjam Bjorklund in a closely contested three-sets encounter to advance to the main draw at the claycourt Major.
Tauson was clinical in her first-round clash against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. She converted six of her 11 break point opportunities and notched up a 6-2, 6-0 victory over the Belarusian to book her spot against Fernandez.