Canada’s Fernandez rolls to 6-2, 6-0 victory over Sakkari at China Open

Canada's Leylah Fernandez returns a shot during a doubles match with American Venus Williams in the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Aug. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

BEIJING — Canada’s Leylah Fernandez rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Maria Sakkari of Greece at the China Open on Friday.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., needed just 74 minutes to complete the second-round victory at the WTA Tour’s 1000-level tournament.

The 25th-seeded Canadian will next play second-seeded American Coco Gauff, who defeated Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-0.

Later Friday, top-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe were upset by American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, losing 6-3, 1-6, 10-4 in first-round doubles play.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.

The Canadian Press