Leylah Fernandez didn’t start her match against Paula Badosa at the 2024 Qatar Open well, but she finished well, winning it in three sets.
This was a very good fight because while many assumed that Fernandez would likely win it because of the Spaniard’s lack of match practice, it went really differently at the start.
The opening set was a bit too shaky from the Canadian, who was all over the place. At times, she demonstrated her overwhelming baseline play, which was supposed to win her the match, but she wasn’t consistent with it.
Badosa, who won a rain-delayed first-round match, on the other hand, saved some break points with second-serve aces, which helped her greatly. She would hold her serve after an early break and then outplay Fernandez in the next four games to win the opening set 6-0.
That was quite a statement from Badosa, but it largely had to do with Fernandez not playing well. She would play much better later by attacking the Spanish player’s second serve, which was always going to be a huge problem for Badosa.
The higher bounce in Doha gave Fernandez plenty of time to unleash, and she did as the match went on. The 2021 US Open finalist completely crushed the former world no. 2 in the second set by relentlessly attacking the Spaniard.
The lefty forehand did tremendous damage during that time, as she did in the previous round against Liudmila Samsonova. The final set was quite competitive, as both players wanted to make it to the third round.
Fernandez exerted a lot of pressure on Badosa for much of the set but also played the crucial rallies better. She saved all four break points she faced while converting one of the two that her opponent gave her.
That was enough for a late break, which she then held for the win. The final score was 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 for Fernandez, who moved on and set up a clash with Qinwen Zheng.
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