Leylah Fernandez beat Czech 17-year-old qualifier Sara Bejlek 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in 1 hour and 33 minutes on John Cain Arena at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Fernandez earned an early break in the first game to take a 1-0 lead. Bejlek broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Both players held their next service games en route to the tie-break. They traded mini-breaks four times en route to 5-5. Fernandez earned her fourth mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-5.
The second set started with a trade of breaks. Fernandez won four consecutive games with two breaks to close out the second set 6-2 setting up a second round match against Alicia Parks, who beat Daria Snigur. 2-6 6-2 6-4.
“It was a good match. It was not a perfect match, but I am just glad that I was able to fight through some of the tough moments that I encountered in the first set and just kept fighting. When I had my chance to close it out in the tie-break, I was just happy that I was able to execute it”, said Fernandez.
