Canada's Fernandez and partner Townsend advance at US Open

NEW YORK — Canada's Leylah Fernandez and American partner Taylor Townsend have advanced in the women's doubles tournament at the U.S. Open.

Fernandez and Townsend beat Karolina Pliskova of Czechia and Croatia's Donna Vekic 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the Round of 16 on Sunday.

Ottawa's Gabrielle Dabrowski and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe, who used to represent Canada, will face Czechia's Barbora Strycova and Marketa Vondrousova on Monday.

Fernandez and Townsend will face the winner of that match in the women's doubles quarterfinals.

Pliskova and Vekic built a 2-0 lead in the first set but Fernandez and Townsend forced a tiebreak to take the lead. That momentum carried into the second set where they took an early 3-0 lead.

Although Pliskova and Vekic had four aces to Fernandez and Townsend's two, they also double faulted seven times to the Canadian-American pairs four.

Fernandez and Townsend won 79 per cent of their first serves and 62 per cent of their second serves, taking three of eight break points.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2023.