Fernandez falls to Pegula in 3-set quarterfinal match at Cincinnati Open
Laval, Que., native suffers tough loss to American Jessica Pegula
Canada's Leylah Fernandez suffered a 7-5, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3) defeat at the hands of American Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open on Saturday.
Already having to win one tiebreaker just to keep herself in the match, Fernandez needed to do it once more to advance to the semifinals. However, Pegula jumped out to a 5-2 lead before eventually taking the tiebreaker 7-3 to emerge victorious.
Fernandez of Laval, Que., broke on six of her 15 opportunities and won 59.4 per cent of her first-serve points in the three-hour four-minute match.
WATCH | Fernandez elminated from Cincinnati Open:
The 21-year-old also had five aces to six double faults.
Pegula, the sixth seed in the tournament, broke on seven of her 15 chances and won 62.8 per cent of her first-serve points.
She had three aces to seven double faults in the match.
Swiatek heading to semis
No. 1 seed of Iga Swiatek of Poland battled back to avoid an upset on Saturday, capturing a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Russian Mirra Andreeva.
It looked like Andreeva was going to pull off a stunning win when she went up 5-4 in the third set, but Swiatek, the World No. 1, took the next three games to end the 17-year-old's historic run at the tournament.
Andreeva was just the fourth player under the age of 18 to reach the quarterfinals of a WTA-1000 level event since 2009, the year that tournament tier was introduced.
"She's playing and behaving like she's older," Swiatek said of Andreeva. "We were playing even, at a similar level, so it was really tight and every point mattered at the end. ... I'm happy that I just did solid, and yeah. It wasn't easy, for sure."
Swiatek prevailed despite converting only 2 of 10 break points and having fewer aces (12-6). She will go up against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 3 seed, in the semifinals.
Sabalenka was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over 10th-seeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova on Saturday, swatting five aces against zero double faults. She saved 3 of 3 break points and won 27 of 34 first-serve points.
It took Sabalenka just 79 minutes to oust Samsonova.
Sinner gets revenge on Rublev
Top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy got some revenge against sixth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev on Saturday, pulling off a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win.
Rublev was playing as the No. 5 seed when he upset the top-seeded Sinner in the quarterfinals of last week's National Bank Open in Montreal. Rublev went on to reach the final, where he fell to Australia's Alexei Popyrin.
It was Sinner who moved on this time, though, as the World No. 1 racked up 32 winners and collected 10 aces to Rublev's four.
Saturday's victory didn't come without adversity for Sinner, who found himself trailing 5-4 in the second set. However, he dominated from there, winning eight of the next nine games, including the final three of the middle set that nearly slipped away.
"It took a lot of mental strength today," Sinner said. "It was very tough conditions, very windy. In the first set he started very well and I didn't play my best tennis, but in the second set, I felt I had a lot of chances. I waited for my chance. I am very happy to make the semis."
Next up for Sinner is Germany's Alexander Zverev, the No. 3 seed, who beat 12th seed Ben Shelton of the United States on Saturday.
Like Sinner, Zverev had to rally, and he was able to come away with a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 win.
Zverev had to contend with a hostile crowd that was on Shelton's side and a pair of third-set rain delays to get within two victories of his second career Cincinnati Open title. He also took the men's singles crown at the tournament in 2021.
Last year, Zverev reached the semifinals in Mason.
Shelton had 14 aces against four double faults in the loss, while Zverev finished with 10 and eight, respectively.
The home crowd still has someone to root for, though, as American Frances Tiafoe made it to the semifinals. Tiafoe prevailed 6-3 in the first set of a match against No. 5 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who was forced to retire due to injury.
Tiafoe's semifinal opponent will be determined later Saturday, when 15th seed Holger Rune of Denmark and Great Britain's Jack Draper collide.
With files from Field Level Media
