It did not end in a fairy tale, but Leylah Annie Fernandez nevertheless leaves Montreal with a head full of good memories.
The Quebecer’s run at the National Bank Open came to an abrupt end, with a 6-2, 6-3 loss late Thursday night in the third round of the Montreal tournament against American Danielle Collins.
Fernandez quickly threw flowers at her rival. “She played a great game, she didn’t make any mistakes,” she said, a most realistic observation.
However, it is a busy week that ends for the left-hander. Three matches at central, three different experiences: a convincing early win, a three-set, three-hour battle in the second round, and then an outright defeat to conclude.
What does she take away from her week? ” Chills. The chills I felt every time I walked onto the pitch, when they were calling my name. They encouraged me, but also, they love tennis. »
“Then there were the practices with my dad, with my sister, the time spent with my family. These are precious moments for me. »
Spectators – and players – had to be patient. The game, originally scheduled for 7 p.m., got underway at 10 p.m. due to delays due to showers.
Collins also indicated that he had no pre-match warm-up, other than the few balls that the players exchanged when they arrived on the field. “I’ve already played a lot this week, so I was okay without warming up,” the winner said after the match. The 29-year-old Floridian was indeed playing her fifth match in six days, as she had to go through qualifying to secure her place in the main draw.
Fernandez, however, refused the excuse of difficult conditions. “My opponent has to live with those conditions, so that’s not really an excuse,” she said. She would later say, however, that Collins “has more experience, and it showed.”
After a relatively easy first set for Collins, Fernandez regained her composure in the second set, until the eighth game, where her serve was broken at zero. The break was confirmed when the Lavalloise committed one of her five double faults of the game.
“Instead of playing my game, playing the angles, I wanted to be the most attacking one and that didn’t help me,” Fernandez said. His service troubles didn’t help either. On several occasions, she also had to resume her ball throwing, a problem that followed her all year, she hinted.
In a press briefing after her resounding victory on Wednesday, the 20-year-old described Collins as a tough opponent, “a tough cookie,” she said in English. She knew what she was talking about, as Collins was dominant on serve, not even offering a break point to her young rival.
Collins has now won five games in a row, calculating qualifying. However, she has an appointment with world number 1, Iga Swiatek, on Friday in the quarter-finals.
