Lily Fernandez collapses in Cincinnati

Leading 5-1 in the second set, Quebec’s Lille Fernandez lost her potential 6-4 7-5 to Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of the Cincinnati Championships on Monday.

The 13th seed in the contested Ohio State Masters 1000 suffered six fractures, including four in the final set. During this match, the maple leaf actress had two set points in the seventh game, but the 27th player in the world raised her playing level when her back was against the wall and Fernandez was unable to follow the show.

The Montreal native and the 14th player on the world chess board finished her show with a success rate of just 61% when she delivered her first serve in play, and also made eight double faults.

It’s also Groundhog Day for Fernandes, who has not made it past the first round in Cincinnati in three career games in that encounter.

On the second lap, Alexandrova will face the winner of the duel between Japan’s Naomi Osaka and China’s Zhang Shuai. The two women will meet on Tuesday.

Also in Ohio, Canadian Denis Shapovalov will be at work in the evening. He will face Bulgarian 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the tournament.