Fernandez saves double match point, upsets Rybakina at Cincinnati Open

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Canada’s Leylah Fernandez overcame 20 aces and saved two match points before beating fourth seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in second-round action Thursday at the Cincinnati Open.

Rybakina, who hadn’t played since losing in the Wimbledon semi-finals to eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova, had double-match point while serving up 6-5 in the second set.

But Fernandez, from Laval, Que., came back to get the break and win the ensuing tiebreaker, then didn’t face break point in the third set as she closed out the match in two hours 35 minutes.

Rybakina, who missed the Paris Olympics and last week’s National Bank Open in Toronto with acute bronchitis, looked rusty in her return with 17 double faults.

It was Fernandez’s first win over a top-five opponent since her run to the 2021 U.S. Open final. She will next face NBO finalist Diana Shnaider of Russia.

In doubles action, Fernandez paired with Yulina Putintseva of Kazakhstan and advanced to the quarter-finals after a walkover over the American pair of Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk.

Earlier, defending champion Coco Gauff lost in her opening match at the Cincinnati Open, falling to Putintseva 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

In men’s action, No. 12 seed Ben Shelton outlasted Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. An American, Brandon Nakashima, beat France’s Arthur Fils 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) to set up a meeting with No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev.

Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime was scheduled to face seventh seed Casper Ruud of Norway later Thursday, but the men’s second-round match was rained out and moved to Friday.

Fifth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz also reached the round of 16, but No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas were both ousted. Dimitrov fell to Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; while Britain’s Jack Draper beat Tsitsipas 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.