Canadian loses in second round of Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia –

Delayed by rain for more than three hours, Leylah Fernandez got off to a great start in her rescheduled second-round women’s singles match at the Australian Open.

But after building a promising three-game lead in the first set, the Laval, Que., athlete sputtered even though her opponent made 39 unforced errors.

Alycia Parks of Atlanta, Ga., came back to win the first set 7-5, then took the second 6-4 to bounce the Canadian in one hour, 43 minutes.

Fernandez finished with 18 unforced errors. Parks had 13 aces while her opponent had none. Fernandez had three double faults and only won 63 per cent of her points on first serve. Fernandez won eight service games, while Parks won 10.

Parks will now play Coco Gauff, who eliminated American Caroline Dolehide 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Tuesday night. Gauff, 19, is seeded fourth in the tournament.

Sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur and former top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki were eliminated by two young Russian players. Jabeur, the runner-up at Wimbledon in each of the past two years, made 24 unforced errors as she was beaten 6-0, 6-2 by 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in 54 minutes.

Wozniacki led Maria Tomafeeva by a set and a break before going down 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and partner Erin Routliffe of Montreal — who won the 2023 U.S. Open together — were scheduled to play women’s doubles on Tuesday night, but due to the lengthy rain delay they won’t face American Ashlyn Krueger and Linda Fruhvirtova of Czechia until Wednesday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2024.