Leylah Fernandez takes down 5th seed Qinwen Zheng to reach Qatar Open quarterfinals

Canada’s Leylah Fernandez advanced to the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open with a 7-5, 6-3 upset of fifth seed Qinwen Zheng of China on Wednesday.

Fernandez came back from a 5-3 deficit in the first set, then picked up her third break in four chances in the second set and held the rest of the way to win the match in 92 minutes.

Fernandez improved to 2-0 in the career series between the 21-year-old Grand Slam finalists.

The Canadian defeated Zheng 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (3) in the second round of Monterrey 2022 en route to her second of three WTA titles.

It’s the first win over a top-10 opponent this year for Fernandez, who was ranked as low as No. 95 in July but entered the week at No. 38.

She will next face No.3 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who downed No.16 seed Emma Navarro of the United States 6-1, 6-7(8), 6-4 in the Round of 16.

WATCH | Fernandez beats Zheng in straight sets in Round of 16:

Raonic rides powerful serve

Canadian veteran Milos Raonic advanced to the quarterfinals of the ABN Amro Open tennis tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 upset of eighth seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The 33-year-old Raonic, a former world No. 3 from Thornhill, Ont., scored a key break to go up 3-2 in the second set of the Round of 16 match and kept Bublik at bay the rest of the way with his powerful serve.

Five of Raonic’s 12 aces came after that break, including three straight to go up 5-3 and another to set up match point in the final game.

WATCH | Raonic racks up 12 aces in Round of 16 victory:

Milos Raonic dispatches Alexander Bublik in straight sets

Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., made quick work of Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, to move on to the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO world tennis tournament in Rotterdam.

Raonic’s quarterfinal opponent is yet to be determined, but a possibility could be Gael Monfils.

The French veteran moved on to the second round with a tough 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) win over Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov.

Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., missed on a break point chance in Game 7 of the second set.

With the second tiebreaker tied 5-5, Monfils won the next point on return before converting match point on serve.

Monfils will face the winner of a match between top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy and Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in the second round. The winner of that match will face Raonic in the quarterfinals.

Later Wednesday, 2022 Rotterdam champion Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal faced second seed Andrey Rublev of Russia in a second-round match.

WATCH | Shapovalov downed in straight sets by Monfils in the Netherlands:

Denis Shapovalov defeated by Gael Monfils in straight sets

Two time winner of the ABN AMRO world tennis tournament, France’s Gael Monfils, defeats Denis Shapovalov 7-6, 7-6 to end the Canadian’s tournament in the first round.