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Lars Hamer

Leylah Fernandez delivered the performance of the tournament at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open on Wednesday, shutting down Ukrainian-born German Eva Lys 6-4, 6-1.
The match-up was the first time two top-50 players had graced Victoria Park Tennis Stadium’s centre court at the same time at this year’s Open, but any signs it would be a close affair were quickly dispelled, as Fernandez took down Lys in one hour and eight minutes.
After the match, Canadian Fernandez said she went into the match with purpose.
“I think the first set, I came out swinging, and I was just … trusting myself, trusting my shots,” Fernandez said.
“As the game got closer, I thought, ‘Eva, she’s gonna run for every ball down, so I’m just gonna have to be patient on a couple of shots, but just to keep going for it.’ And in the second set, I was being smart with my rallies and shot selections.”
World No 22 Fernandez, who won the tournament in 2023, wasted no time getting into her groove, winning the first three games, the last two of which she took by scoring eight points in a row to both break and hold to love.

It was a truly dominant performance from the 23-year-old, who played the first set like a training drill. She often scored by opening up the court with her serve, before returning anything that Lys threw at her with unstoppable groundstrokes.
And Lys was clearly frustrated with how the match was going. Between games, she could be heard having heated discussions with her coach, who is also her dad.
But Lys, also 23, did break back through a moment of slight controversy.
Fernandez, trailing 40-15, returned a shot onto the baseline that was wrongly called out. That call impeded Lys and the point was replayed, and the German scored and held to level it at 4-4.
But that only made Fernandez more engaged and more aggressive. She started coming to the net and converted a double break point to take the set.
Between sets, world No 44 Lys again engaged in a loud conversation with her coaching team, but whatever was said did not help.
Smelling blood, Fernandez was scoring with volleys and slices from both the baseline and the net. Former world No 13 Fernandez forced five breakpoints before getting the crucial conversion to bring the tie to 5-1 and serving out the match.
“Today’s match was definitely a very high-level match that I played,” Fernandez said.
“I was being aggressive, offensive and, you know, my coach said it best: I’ve got to go out there with a purpose.
“This is the type of level that I have to bring every day and every tournament, because that’s what the top 10 do.”
Earlier, Romanian Sorana Cirstea engaged in a three-set thriller, beating Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The other match on centre court saw Slovakian Viktoria Morvayova lose in straight sets to Maya Joint, also from Australia.


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Sport

Hong Kong

Tennis

The first match on centre court featuring two top-50 players at this year’s tournament sees Canadian in aggressive form


The first match on centre court featuring two top-50 players at this year’s tournament sees Canadian in aggressive form.


Hong Kong Tennis Association (HKTA)

WTA (Women's Tennis Association)

Ajla Tomljanovic

Eva Lys

Hong Kong Tennis Open: former champion Leylah Fernandez makes short work of Eva Lys

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The first match on centre court featuring two top-50 players at this year’s tournament sees Canadian in aggressive form

The first match on centre court featuring two top-50 players at this year’s tournament sees Canadian in aggressive form