MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA -- Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez has been ousted from the Australian Open.
The 18-year-old Fernandez was dropped in straight on Tuesday in the first round by 18th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium.
Mertens took the match 6-1, 6-3 in one hour 26 minutes.
Fernandez, ranked 89th in the world, held serve to go up 1-0 in the opening set before Mertens reeled off six straight points.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., fell behind 2-0 in the second set but broke Mertens for the first time, then held serve to tie it 2-2.
Any momentum was quickly halted for the Canadian, however, as Mertens cruised the rest of the way, with Fernandez ending her outing with six double faults and 25 unforced errors.
Fernandez is the first Canadian to be ousted from the Grand Slam tournament, with Rebecca Marino, Bianca Andreescu, Milos Raonic, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov all winning their first-round matches Monday.
Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver was scheduled to face No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in men's singles first-round action later Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published February 8, 2021.
