Fernandez, Shapovalov ousted, Raonic withdraws with injury at Indian Wells
It was a tough Saturday for Canadian tennis players at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in her women’s singles opener to 21-year-old underdog Diane Parry of France, while Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., withdrew from his men’s single match with ninth-seeded Holger Rune due to injury.
Fernandez, seeded 29th in the WTA 1000 tourney, battled against Parry, but could never catch up with her rival’s serve or aggressive return game.
Fernandez had six aces compared to Parry’s two in the two hour, 57-minute match. Parry had 10 double faults but did well with limiting her unforced errors.
WATCH l Fernandez bounced by Parry:
Parry won 55 service points, while Fernandez had 47.
Canadian Denis Shapovalov also lost in three sets (6-4, 2-6, 7-5) to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the Round of 64 on Saturday in the men’s tournament.
WATCH l Shapovalov falls to Musetti:
Milos Raonic benefited in the first round when Rafael Nadal withdrew with an injury and instead played Sumit Nagal, which Raonic won easily.
In women’s doubles action, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and her partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand only needed 57 minutes to beat Alexandra Panova of Russia and Cristina Bucsa of Moldova 6-0, 6-3.
Dabrowski and Routliffe, seeded second in the tournament, had one ace, four double faults and won five service games and seven return games.
Panova and Bucsa had no aces, one double fault, one service game won and two return games won.