NINGBO — Canada's Leylah Fernandez battled past Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Ningbo Open.
The 24-year-old from Laval, Que., needed three hours to defeat the world's 122nd-ranked player and improve her career record against Sasnovich to 2-2.
Fernandez, ranked 30th in the world, overcame 53 unforced errors and eight double faults to win her second straight three-set match. Sasnovich committed 73 unforced errors.
She converted eight of 15 break-point opportunities, compared with five of six for Sasnovich, and sealed the victory on her first match point.
Fernandez will next face Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova, who advanced Wednesday when third-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine withdrew from their match with an injury.
Kostyuk's withdrawal also secured the final spot at the season-ending WTA Finals for Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Kostyuk needed to reach the Ningbo final to keep her qualification hopes alive.
Muchova joins Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina and Linda Noskova at the Nov. 8-15 event in Indian Wells, Calif.
Fernandez and Kostyuk's scheduled doubles quarterfinal Thursday against top seeds Nicole Melichar of the United States and Cristina Bucsa of Spain was cancelled following Kostyuk's injury.
With files from the Associated Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
The Canadian Press