Ana Bogdan relied on her consistency and tenacity to overcome Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez 6-4, 6-1 in one hour, 43 minutes to advance to the second round of the Italian Open.
While Fernandez was the favourite heading to the match, the world No. 34 struggled frequently with her timing at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia,
It was Bogdan of Romania who imposed her tennis in the early stages, seizing a quick break of serve to establish an early 2-0 first-set lead.
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Fernandez initially responded, though at 2-2, the 21-year-old coughed up a 40-0 advantage to the Romanian, surrendering a second break of serve as she struggled to absorb her pace.
The veteran 31-year-old remained the steadier of the two players, frequently counter-punching and resisting the aggressive play of the Canadian, as she built a 5-3 lead.
While Fernandez saved a set point to hold serve for 4-5, Bogdan kept her at bay to close out the opening set 6-4 in 58 minutes as the Canadian misfired on a backhand wide.
This trend continued into the second set – the Quebec native struggled with her timing while Bogdan pushed rallies with her strong court coverage.
Though Fernandez secured an opening service hold, Bogdan would quickly again take hold of the score, breaking for a 2-1 lead.
The Romanian further built on the scoreboard advantage, winning a lengthy side-to-side exchange to forge ahead 4-1.
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On her first match point, Bogdan sealed the victory with a clean backhand crosscourt winner to complete the upset.
It was the first-career meeting between the players. The Romanian capitalized on the Canadian’s second serve, winning 12 of a possible 18 points. She was also opportunistic by converting on five of eight break point chances.
With the loss, Fernandez drops to 8-10 on her 2024 campaign, and just 1-3 on clay.
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The 21-year-old was the lone Canadian player in the women’s field. Both Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are set compete in the men’s draw later this week.
