Canada's Leylah Fernandez advances to third round at Miami Open

Leylah Fernandez of Canada plays a backhand return to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

MIAMI — MIAMI — Leylah Fernandez advanced to the third round of the Miami Open tennis tournament with a 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Alycia Parks of the United States on Thursday.

After dominating the first-set tiebreaker, Fernandez carried that momentum into the second set where she scored three breaks while surrendering one and earned 59.3 per cent of total points.

Fernandez improved to 2-0 against Parks, with their only other meeting coming at the 2024 Australian Open.

In men's first-round action, Montreal's Gabriel Diallo advanced with a convincing 6-3, 6-0 win over Argentina's Tomás Etcheverry.

The 22-year-old Fernandez, from Laval, Que., will next face American Ashlyn Krueger as she looks to advance to the Round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career,

Fernandez had a bye into the second round after entering the tournament as the 26th seed.

The six-foot-eight Diallo, who advanced to the main draw as a lucky loser after losing his final qualifying match, made the most of his second chance by dispatching Etcheverry in 74 minutes.

The 23-year-old overcame 27 unforced errors by firing six aces and converting five of eight break points.

Next up for Diallo is a rematch with 17th seed Arthur Fils of France, who defeated the Canadian in the second round of Indian Wells earlier this month.

Diallo is 1-and-1 against Fils after beating the Frenchman in the second round of the 2024 U.S. Open.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025.

The Canadian Press