Posted April 14, 2023 9:03 PM ET
Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez celebrates after defeating Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer during a Billie Jean King Cup qualifier singles match in Vancouver on Friday, April 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER — Leylah Fernandez started Canada’s run in Friday’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in dominant fashion with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.
The 20-year-old from Laval, Que., used a powerful serve to pocket four aces and earned 5 of a possible 9 break points during the hour and five-minute game.
Wickmayer struggled at times, winning just 12 of 25 first serve points and making three double faults.
The two-day competition continues on Friday night when Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino takes on Belgium’s leader Ysaline Bonaventure.
On Saturday singles matches will be played between Fernandez and Bonaventure and Marino and Wickmayer before Ottawa’s Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski take on Kirsten Flipkens and Greet Minnen in doubles.
The Vancouver event is one of nine qualifiers taking place around the world this week. The winners advance to the finals in November.
Fernandez, ranked 50th in the WTA rankings, dominated the opening game of qualifiers from the start, firing an ace down the line just minutes later.
After an extended rally, the Canadian sent a backhanded chipshot over the net to forge a crucial 3-0 lead, ending game five of the day with her fourth ace.
After Canada led 5-0, Belgium called a time-out and a coach came out to check out Wickmayer’s left foot. The former world No. 12, who is currently seated at No. 190, showed no signs of an ongoing injury when she returned to the court.
The brief pause did nothing to break Fernandez’s momentum and she quickly completed the set.
Wickmayer recovered in the second set, forcing the young Canadian to change her shot selection.
In the opening game, Fernandez tapped a ball over the net only to see her opponent stretch and return. But Fernandez was in good position and got her racquet up in time to put the ball well over Wickmayer’s head.
The Belgian finally found a reply to Fernandez’s serve in game seven, breaking her opponent to reduce the deficit to 5-2 before the Canadian ended the win.
Fernandez celebrated with an enthusiastic punch before shaking hands with Wickmayer at the net and blowing a kiss to the crowd.
Last year Canada beat Latvia in a qualifier and reached the finals in Glasgow, where they defeated Italy before losing to Switzerland in the group stage. Switzerland went on to win the world title.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 14, 2023.