Leylah Annie Fernandez is heading to the third round, while fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov has been eliminated at the French Open.
Fernandez, an 18-year-old from Laval, Que., beat world No. 47 Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in a second-round women's match on Thursday at the clay-court Grand Slam.
Shapovalov, the No. 9 seed in the men's draw from Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 to Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain in a five-hour match in the second round. Shapovalov was the last Canadian remaining in the men's draw.
Shapovalov missed two chances to serve out the match before falling to Carballes Baena, ranked 101st in the world, in cool conditions.
"Honestly I feel like the conditions were as tough as possible for me to play against here, with the balls being just so heavy and it being really cold," Shapovalov said. "I mean, I play an aggressive game, I like to step in, and I mean he just had so much time. So it was very difficult."
Shapovalov later posted a message to Twitter where he appeared to take exception to a ruling during the 10th game of the fifth set when he was serving with a chance to win the match.
He lamented the fact that Hawkeye, a line-calling technology used for tennis, has not been implemented for clay court events.
Shapovalov, who said he hurt a hamstring during the match, fell short of reaching the third round at the French Open for the first time in his career. He made it to the second round in 2018 and lost in the first round last year.
Off the court, Shapovalov wasn't happy with the job done by organizers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the situation at the U.S. Open in New York was "way better."
"Yeah, honestly I think they're not doing a good job. There's really no bubble, especially in the second hotel I heard," he said.
WATCH | Shapovalov ousted in 5 sets:
No. 9 seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 to Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain in a five-hour match in the second round of the French Open. 3:57 "Scheduling is absolutely awful. I mean, after a five-hour match I have to play doubles now. It's just like, it's just complete trash scheduling. It's disappointing. I mean you're in a Grand Slam and I don't want to sound spoiled, you know, but you expect at least some help from the tournament to help you compete."
Shapovalov and partner Rohan Bopanna of India later fell to Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock in a first-round doubles match.
Shapovalov was coming off a run to the semifinals on clay at the Italian Open. He made the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open last month.
Carballes Baena will face No. 18 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the third round.
Fernandez, meanwhile, is making her main-draw debut at the tournament after winning the girls' division at the French Open last year. She'll face No. 7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, a two-time Wimbledon champion, in the third round.
Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., advanced to the third round of the women's draw on Wednesday. She'll face world No. 54 Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., lost in the first round in her Grand Slam debut at this year's Australian Open before falling in the second round at the U.S. Open last month.
When asked what she's happiest about, Fernandez said, ""Mostly my fight and hard work.
"These two players (she beat No. 31 seed Magda Linette in the first round) are great players ... both top-50 players for a reason so it wasn't going to be easy. I'm happy to get that one more ball back in and fight through the end."
WATCH | Fernandez into 3rd round:
The 18-year-old from Laval, Que., beat world No. 47 Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to advance to the third round of the French Open. 3:10 Fernandez joins Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., in the third round. Bouchard will face world No. 54 Iga Swiatek of Poland on Friday.
Fernandez has enjoyed previous success on the clay courts at Roland Garros, winning the girls' title last year before making the jump to the pros.
"It's honestly really difficult transitioning from juniors to professionals," said Fernandez, who is ranked 100th in the world. "I know Coco (Gauff) makes it seems like its' easy but it's hard. You've got to get used to the pace, to the heaviness of the balls. Juniors is still fast and still heavy, but not the same as the pros."
Fernandez will next face No. 7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Kvitova won Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014.
"It won't be an easy match," Fernandez said. "She's a great player, won a few grand slams and went through some difficult times (Kvitova was the victim of a knife attack in 2016) and still bounced back to being in the top 10," Fernandez said.
"I remember since I started playing tennis, watching her winning the Wimbledon championship, the way she played was really inspiring."
Earlier Thursday, former champion Jelena Ostapenko ousted second seed Karolina Pliskova with a 6-4 6-2 win in the second round after an error-ridden performance from the Czech player.
Latvian Ostapenko, who won the 2017 title as an unseeded player, played aggressively from the start and hit 27 winners as a strangely subdued Pliskova struggled to rein in her unforced errors under the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.
WATCH | Jelena Ostapenko ousts Karolina Pliskova in Paris:
2017 champion and world No. 43 player Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia eliminated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the French Open. 1:25 No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic's won his second-round match easily with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ricardas Berankis.
Djokovic has dropped a total of only 10 games so far on his way to the third round in Paris. He won the title at Roland Garros in 2016 to complete a career Grand Slam.
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2020-10-01 18:31:00Z
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