Canadian Leylah Fernandez defeated Austrian Julia Grabher in straight sets at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai. The 2021 US Open runner-up will be Iga Świątek’s first rival.

On Saturday, the Doha tournament ended, in which Iga Świątek defended her title. A day later, the tennis players went to fight in Dubai. The leader of the classification met the first opponent. The Pole will face Leylah Fernandez (WTA 39), who beat Julia Grabher (WTA 90) 6:4, 6:2.

In the first set, Grabher from 2:4 tied at 4:4. Since then, Fernandez has won eight of the next 10 games. In 74 minutes, the Canadian scored 27 of 31 points on her first serve. She used four of her eight break points.

Fernandez has two WTA Tour titles to his credit. She won both in Monterrey, in 2021 and 2022. Her final record is 2-2. The Canadian can boast of four victories over Top 10 tennis players. She scored three at the US Open 2021. She beat Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka.

Last year, Świątek crushed the Canadian 6:1, 6:2 in Adelaide. Fernandez was the revelation of the US Open 2021. She reached the final, where she lost to Britain’s Emma Raducan.

The match between Świątek and Fernandez will take place on Tuesday.

Dubai Duty Free Tennis ChampionshipsDubai, United Arab Emirates)
WTA 1000, hard court, $2.788 million prize pool
Sunday February 19

1st singles round:

Leylah Fernandez (Canada) bt Julia Grabher (Austria Q) 6-4, 6-2

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