By Charmaine Janis Rodriguez
FILIPINO-Canadian tennis sensation Leylah Annie Fernandez has won for Canada her second Monterrey Open championship.
Fernandez, 19, of Laval, Quebec, defeated Colombia’s Camila Osorio 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(3) Sunday to win the tournament in Mexico for the second consecutive year.
It’s the second WTA title of Fernandez’s career after she won last year, according to a report by CBC.ca.
“2X CHAMP. VAMOS! The energy was unreal. Monterrey and Mexico, you have a special place in my heart,” Fernandez posted in her Facebook account.
“Thank you tournament director, Hernan, @abiertognpseguros, the staff and volunteers involved to make this week happen! Congrats to @_camilaosorio_ and your team. You played an amazing tournament and tonight was incredible tennis. I can’t wait to see each other in more finals,” she added.
She also thanked her family and sponsors for their support.
Fernandez, who is born to an Ecuadorian father and Filipino mother, made headlines last year when she became a finalist in the Women’s Finals for the US Open. She beat former US Open champions Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber in separate matches, and endeared the crowds in Flushing Meadows, New York although she lost the championship to UK’s Emma Raducanu.
The Monterrey match was marred by a power outage involving on-court screens and lights and lasted two hours and 52 minutes.
Fernandez demonstrated her prowess after losing the first set in a tiebreak. She won the second set.
The lengthy back-and-forth during the third set was suspended for 15 minutes due to a power outage at a crucial moment. Fernandez fought off five championship points before cruising in the tiebreak, cbc.ca added.
“When play resumed, Fernandez forced deuce again and then sent the set to a tiebreaker, which she won 7-3. On championship point, Osorio fired a forehand wide and the Canadian threw both arms in the air in celebration,” the report also read.