TORONTO – In something of a rarity, doubles action took centre stage Thursday at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto.
Firstly, though not on centre court, Leylah Fernandez and her younger sister, Bianca, teamed up as doubles partners for the first time since last year’s National Bank Open in Montreal, when they fell to the all-Italian pairing of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets.
On Thursday, the Fernandez sisters teamed up on home soil once more, this time taking on Elise Mertens of Belgium and Russia’s Diana Shnaider.
Not wanting things to go the way they did last year, Bianca did her best to make sure the two were more prepared coming into Thursday’s opener.
“(Bianca) was speaking to me about the game plan during lunch, which is actually hilarious because I haven’t even played my singles (match) yet,” Leylah said on Wednesday. “But she’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve been looking at these matches, and we can do this.’ So I feel like we’re just excited to be playing together … I think the most important thing is that we get to have fun, get to share the court once again, and execute our game.
“I know my sister, she’s going to go out there and attack. And I’m also going to be doing that. So it’s going to be kind of the Fernandez sisters terror, hopefully.”
Unfortunately for the sister duo, as high as those hopes were for a better showing this year, they were quickly wiped away, falling to Merten and Shnaider 6-1, 6-2 as the match lasted just an hour and seven minutes, officially — dragged out longer than it probably should’ve been because of a brief rain delay.
The other marquee doubles event on Thursday saw the 46-year-old ageless wonder Venus Williams team up with one of the game’s brightest new stars, 21-year-old Philippines sensation Alexandra Eala.
Given the age gap between the two women, the pairing seemed a little unlikely, but the pair had partnered up before in a tune-up event in Germany ahead of Wimbledon, winning one match.
On Thursday, they couldn’t replicate the result they had back in late June, losing in straight sets to Japan’s Miyu Kato and Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, 6-4, 6-3, as they ultimately gave up too many opportunities for Kato and Samsonova to capitalize on.
Regardless of the result, however, the Toronto crowd appreciated their effort and enthusiastically showed its support for the legendary Williams, and who could appear to be a real star in the making in Eala.
“Alex is a world star. She’s just incredible,” Williams said of her younger partner. “Besides the fact of her tennis, she’s an incredible person, well spoken, and just an impressive young lady. So I like being around those kinds of things. I think we both lift each other up.”
In other action on Thursday, top singles seed and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the Round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-4 drubbing of China’s Shuai Zhang. She’ll next see Ekaterina Alexandrova, who defeated Talia Gibson 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to advance on Thursday, as well.
“I’m happy with the level, happy with the win in straight sets, and happy that rain didn’t stop our game,” Sabalenka said after the match. “So, yeah, happy to be through.”
Also in doubles play, Alexandrova and her Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski fell to the American duo of Coco Gauff and Caty McNally 3-6, 6-3, 11-9, in one of the more dramatic matches of the tournament so far.
“I thought the crowd was amazing,” Dabrowski said. “It was wonderful to have such a packed court. It was really fun to play in front of a lot of people cheering for McCoco as well. So that was really nice and balanced, I guess. It’s very Canadian of us.
“But, yeah, I thought it was really fun, and it was really fast-paced also on that court, too. So, hopefully, the fans enjoyed that.”
Dabrowski teamed up with Alexandrova late in the tournament, and the two hadn’t had any time to practice before. Despite that, the pair comported themselves well on the court Thursday.
“I didn’t really have very many expectations in terms of results,” Dabrowski said. “Like, if we would win matches, that would be wonderful. But if not, it’s okay; I get to spend time in Toronto, see my friends, practice, get better.
“So, it was kind of like, if we’re winning, that’s great, and if not it’s still great. Like, I like being here. It’s really nice to spend time with people that I haven’t seen in a long time, and enjoy the city, and things I don’t really get to do too often.
“So, yeah, today was a loss, and that sucks that I’m out of the tournament, but I’ll still be around and maybe practicing or physiotherapy or watching some matches. So, unfortunately, I can’t get out there again for the fans, but I still loved it, honestly. I didn’t have expectations, so I’m not really too disappointed.”