First Canadian falls in Indian Wells

UPGRADE ; DAY

Rebecca Marino's stay in California was very brief. She lost her flag in the first round of the Indian Wells tournament on Thursday.

The Torontonian was nevertheless the favorite in her duel against the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, 105th racket in the world. Instead, she lost after just 1h 11min of play, in two identical sets of 6-2.

Marino, who is ranked 75th in the WTA rankings, was robbed of his service from the first game and that set the tone for the game. Vondrousova had four breaks and gave her rival no opportunity to give her back.

Marino lost half of the rallies she initiated, but only won 17% of the points when Vondrousova was in possession.

In a main draw, in 2023, the representative of Maple Leaf is yet to win back-to-back matches.

Vondrousova will face 28th-seeded compatriot Maria Bouzkova in the second round.

Fernandez is progressing double…

On the side of the doubles table, the young Quebecer Leylah Fernandez made a success of her entry in the company of her partner, the American Taylor Townsend.

The North American pair overcame the Taiwanese Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan. After 1h 34 min at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, they won in two sets of 6-4 and 7-6 (5).

The second set was hotly contested and the four athletes were able to avoid breaks of service. Finally, in the tiebreaker, Fernandez and Townsend took advantage of their first match point to end hostilities.

In the second round, they could cross swords with the first seeds, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

In the singles draw, Fernandez, who enjoyed a bye, is awaiting the match between American qualifier Emma Navarro and Caty McNally.

…”FAA” and “Shapo” too

In the men's category, Canadians Félix-Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov also extended their adventure in doubles.

They showed they were ready for their first singles duel by defeating Denmark's Holger Rune and American Ben Shelton in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.

Representatives of the Maple Leafs were nothing short of dominant in the first set. They won the last five games of the set, thanks in particular to their prowess in possession of the balls. They didn't lose any of the 13 rallies that followed a successful first serve.

Rune and Shelton did a better job afterwards, even scoring five break points in the second set. The Canadians closed the door, however, and stole the serve of their rivals twice in a row to close the books.

“Shapo” and “FAA” will face Austrian Lucan Miedler and Briton Cameron Norrie in the round of 16.

In singles, Auger-Aliassime will face Spaniard Pedro Martinez, 120th in the world, in the second round. For his part, Shapovalov will do battle with the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (77th).