US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez beats Cornet to reach Indian Wells third round

In her first match since reaching the US Open final, 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez defeated Alize Cornet to set up a third-round showdown against Roland-Garros runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Leylah Fernandez of Canada playing doubles at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open WTA 1000 tennis tournament Leylah Fernandez of Canada playing doubles at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open WTA 1000 tennis tournament Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez won her first match since her surprising run to her first major final, beating former world No 11 Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Seeded 23rd this fortnight, Leylah Fernandez won 6-2, 6-3 over the Frenchwoman, hours after Emma Raducanu – the player who beat her in the US Open final was defeated in her first match since their all-teenage final.

The Canadian needed one hour and 25 minutes for the victory – with one of the key differentiators in the match being the % of second serve points won. The 19-year-old won 65% of points off her second serve while Cornet was successful only 17% of the time on her own second serve.

Fernandez’s reward for her win is a third-round match against ninth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the runner-up at Roland-Garros this year. This will be the first career meeting between the two players.

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