Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom — Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez is heading to the second round of the Viking Classic Birmingham.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., beat China’s Wang Yafan in the first round of the WTA Tour 250 grass-court event on Tuesday.
The 66th-ranked Fernandez won 76.1 per cent of points when she got her first serve in, well above her opponent’s rate (57.5 per cent).
It was Fernandez’s first match of the grass-court season. She lost in the second round of the French Open.
Meanwhile, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Noventi Open in Halle, Germany on Tuesday,
It was the second win in as many matches for the 21st-ranked Auger-Aliassime against the 17th-ranked Hurkacz.
Auger-Aliassime is coming off a run to the final at another grass-court event in Germany last week.
The Canadian will face Swiss star Roger Federer in the second round of the ATP Tour 500 event. It will be their first career meeting.
Meanwhile, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., won his opening match at the Cinch Championships in London.
The second-seeded Shapovalov advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) win over Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic that lasted one hour 38 minutes.
Shapovalov had 20 aces and never faced break point, but also had just two break point chances against Vukic, with the Australian saving both.
Shapovalov struggled with accuracy when serving, landing just 57 per cent of his first serves. However, wen accurate he won 90 per cent of first-serve points, and was strong on second serve winning 73 per cent of those points.
The Canadian next faces Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, who beat Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko 6-1, 7-6 (6).
Shapovalov leads the all-time head-to-head series 1-0 after he defeated Lopez last week in the opening round of a grass-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2021.
The Canadian Press
