Leylah Fernandez advances to third round at Olympics, Andreescu ousted

Just like at the French Open earlier this year, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez has won her first two matches at Roland-Garros at the Olympics.

Fernandez, seeded 16th in women’s singles, advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Cristina Busca of Spain on Monday in Paris.

“I’m happy with the match. I’m happy with the way I fought,” Fernandez told reporters, per the Canadian Olympic Committee. “It wasn’t the prettiest match … But at the same time, it was a good match to play. I’m glad I kept fighting.”

The native of Laval, Que. will next face three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber. The 36-year-old German has announced she will retire after the Olympics.

Fernandez also advanced to the third round at the French Open before losing to No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur.

Fernandez also advanced in women’s doubles, teaming up with Gabriela Dabrowski to beat France’s Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 7-5 in the first round.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu lost 6-3, 6-4 in the second round against No. 13 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Andreescu appeared to hurt her thumb when her racket accidentally struck her left hand while she was serving early in the second sent. With Andreescu in obvious pain, Vekic went to check on her opponent.

The Canadian, who has been sidelined by numerous injuries since winning the U.S. Open in 2019, fought back from a break down in the second set before ultimately falling short.

Andreescu said the intitial thought is she suffered a sprained thumb.

“I saw my doctor and he said he doesn’t want to say exactly what he thinks it is just in case,” she said. “Something can change on the imaging, which I’ll do later. He thinks it’s a sprain as of now.”

Andreescu’s health will be a storyline heading into the National Bank Open next week in Toronto.

In Olympic men’s doubles first-round action, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic lost in straight sets to Americans Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.

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