NINGBO — Canada’s Leylah Annie 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 face the winner of Wednesday’s match between third-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova. Fernandez and Kostyuk will also team up in Thursday’s doubles quarterfinals against top seeds Nicole Melichar of the United States and Cristina Bucsa of Spain. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
