Leylah Fernandez began her Washington Open title defence in emphatic fashion.
The Canadian, a finalist at the 2021 US Open, comfortably defeated Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4 on Monday afternoon.
It is an important week for Fernandez, whose status as a seed for the US Open is hanging by a thread.
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Fernandez will hope to continue her good form when she plays either Alex Eala or Qinwen Zheng in the Washington Open second round.
Ahead of the contest, Fernandez offered her thoughts on both players.
Leylah Fernandez previews potential match against Alex Eala
“Both players are tricky. Qinwen is a tough opponent to play,” Fernandez said of the Chinese star during her post-match press conference on Monday.
“She is coming back from an injury. She is playing really well. Very powerful.”
Zheng won the 2024 Olympic gold medal in women’s singles and looked set to be a Grand Slam contender for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, she suffered a painful elbow injury last year; stunting her progress.
Fernandez then turned her attention to Eala.
Eala, the world number 28, recently reached the fourth round of Wimbledon – beating Maya Joint and defending champion Iga Swiatek en route.
Alex Eala’s last five matches
- Wimbledon R4: lost to Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 6-4, 3-6
- Wimbledon R3: defeated Iga Świątek 7-6, 6-2
- Wimbledon R2: defeated Maya Joint 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
- Wimbledon R1: defeated Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-2
- Bad Homburg R1: lost to Elise Mertens 3-6, 3-6
“Alex is having a tremendous year, winning some tough matches and coming off a great Wimbledon run,” the Canadian star stated. “They are both coming in with some good confidence, so either player is going to be a tough match.
“For myself I am just going to focus on my own game and what I can do to neutralise them and make them uncomfortable.
“At the end of the day, if I can do my objectives and work hard and fight I can leave the court with no regrets regardless of the result.”
Fernandez also commented on her state of mind heading into this year’s Washington event. Specifically, how she feels coming back as the defending champion.
“It doesn’t really give me a lot of pressure,” said the 23-year-old. “I guess there is that sense of pressure but it’s not as big as people think.
“For myself I have had good matches here last year and coming in during training week my coaches said that we are coming here to earn our points and not to defend or get another title, but to earn it.
“That has been the mindset and hopefully we can continue that way for the rest of the week.”
Alex Eala and Leylah Fernandez’s one previous match
Eala and Fernandez’s one and only contest on the WTA Tour occurred earlier this year in Germany.
The pair faced each other in the Stuttgart Open round of 32.
Fernandez emerged victorious on that occasion, beating the Filipina star 6-1, 6-4 on the indoor clay courts.
She went on to defeat Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, before losing to number one seed Elena Rybakina, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7.
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Fernandez played a further four clay-court events ahead of the French Open: Madrid, Rome, Paris 125k and Strasbourg.
As for Eala, she competed in Madrid, Rome and Strasbourg ahead of the Parisian major, winning three matches across the three events.
At Roland Garros, both Fernandez and Eala were beaten in the first round.
Fernandez lost to Alycia Parks, while Eala was knocked out by Oleksandr Olijnykova.
