Photo : @leylahannietennis
Canada’s strong start at the 2025 Miami Open continued on Thursday as both Leylah Annie Fernandez and Gabriel Diallo won their opening matches in straight sets. All three Canadians who have played so far won their first match, with Victoria Mboko scoring her first WTA Tour win on Wednesday.
Fernandez took down American Alycia Parks in her first match of the tournaments after a first-round bye. She is into the third round of the WTA 1000 event for the second year in a row.
The power of Parks caused Fernandez trouble at times but the Canadian’s counterpunching skills ultimately won the day. Fernandez was able to grind her way to a 7-6(1), 6-3 victory.
Despite putting less than 50 per cent of her first serves in play, Fernandez was strong when landing her delivery, winning 80 per cent of those points. She did a good job of creating opportunities in the face of Parks’ mighty serve, breaking four times on nine chances.
There was little between the two women early on as both held serve with relative ease through the first six games. At 3-3, Parks was able to hit her way into a Fernandez service game and a big backhand set up the first break point of the match. The Canadian double-faulted to fall behind.
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With the way Parks was hitting the ball, it seemed like that one break would surely be enough. But serving for the set at 5-4, the American’s game fell apart. Two missed backhands and a double fault gave Fernandez a chance to break back and she took advantage, firing a forehand passing shot winner to get back on serve.
Parks’ inconsistency continued to cause her problems in the tiebreak as she double-faulted on her first service point and followed it up with a forehand into the net as Fernandez raced ahead 4-0. A double fault from the Canadian was the only point Fernandez lost in the breaker as she completed her opening-set comeback.
The Lavalloise carried the momentum into the second set, immediately going up love-40 in the opening game on Parks’ serve and converting the second break point to claim an early advantage. It was short-lived, however. In her first service game, Fernandez had to save three break points and then in her second, she fell behind love-40. She was only able to save one break point, sending a backhand long on the second to put the set back on serve.
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Fluctuations in level from Parks continued to be a problem for the American and Fernandez was happy to take advantage. At 3-3, a couple of brutal misses at the net from Parks, including a smash into the net down break point, allowed Fernandez to reclaim the break lead. This time, she did not let it slip away. As Parks served to stay in it at 3-5, the Canadian brought up a series of match points and finally on the fourth, the American sent a forehand long.
Fernandez will meet Ashlyn Krueger, who upset No. 7 seed Elena Rybakina on Thursday, in the third round. Krueger leads their head-to-head 2-1, having won the two most recent meetings including in the third round of Toronto last summer and earlier this year in the Abu Dhabi quarter-finals.
Diallo Again Seizes Second Chance
For the second Masters 1000 event in a row, Gabriel Diallo was able to take advantage of getting into the main draw as a lucky loser and advance to the second round. Replacing Tallon Griekspoor who pulled out on Wednesday, the Montrealer defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets for his first win at the Miami Open.
The match started out tight but once the Canadian got rolling, there was no stopping him. Diallo needed just under 75 minutes, winning the last eight games in a row for a 6-3, 6-0 victory.
Diallo was the heavy aggressor in the match, hitting 27 errors to just 16 winners, but his winner count was four times his opponent’s, who only managed to get four balls clean past the Canadian. Diallo was also highly effective on break points, converting five of eight opportunities while saving three of four on his own serve.
It took a bit of time for Diallo to find a rhythm. He trailed 15-40 in his opening service game but managed to find his range quickly enough to hit himself out of the jam. Up 3-2 on the Etcheverry serve, a bit of luck went the Canadian’s way as his shot dribbled over after clipping the net cord to create a break point and the Argentinian struck a forehand wide to give Diallo a 4-2 lead.
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A poor game from the Montrealer as he attempted to consolidate allowed Etcheverry to break right back, but the Argentine was unable to create any momentum. Serving to level the set in the eighth game, Etcheverry netted a backhand to go down 15-40 and on the second break point, pulled his passing shot attempt well wide to set up Diallo to serve for the set. The Canadian was not about to let a second break slip away, easily holding to wrap up the opening frame.
The second set was all Diallo as Etcheverry struggled to keep up with the Canadian’s consistently powerful hitting. In the opening game, the Argentine’s forehand vanished and back-to-back misses handed the immediate break to the Canadian.
Diallo never let up from there. He lost just eight total points in the second set, breaking every time Etcheverry stepped up to the line. He only needed 28 minutes to race through the set, sealing the win with an ace.
While history repeated for Diallo from Indian Wells with his victory after getting in as a lucky loser, he will hope that is where the parallels end as he will face the same second-round opponent in Miami as he did on the west coast, 17th seed Arthur Fils. The Frenchman won their Indian Wells clash in straight sets.
Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are the only two Canadians yet to play their first matches in Miami, both having had first-round byes. Auger-Aliassime will kick off his campaign on Friday at 11:00 am EST on Court 1, followed by the clash between Victoria Mboko and 11th seed Paula Badosa, while Shapovalov will be in action on Saturday.
