Fernandez into second round at Abu Dhabi Open with win over Uchijima
ABU DHABI — Canada’s Leylah Fernandez advanced to the second round of the Abu Dhabi Open tennis tournament on Tuesday with a 7-6(3), 7-6(0) win over Japanese lucky loser Moyuka Uchijima.
Fernandez, the tournament’s eighth seed, had eight double faults and struggled with her second serve against Uchijima, who was called into action after Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova withdrew from the tournament.
But the 22-year-old from Laval, Que., won 14 of 17 points in the tiebreaks to set up a second-round match with Lulu Sun of New Zealand.
Both players saved eight of 13 break points in the back-and-forth contest that took two hours and eight minutes to complete.
Fernandez, ranked 27th in the world, improved her record this season to 6-3 and is coming off a third-round appearance at the Australian Open.
Sun, ranked 45th in the world, has yet to post a singles win in 2025.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2025.
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