Leylah Annie Fernandez's run at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells ended on Tuesday with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) round-of-32 loss to surging American Shelby Rogers.
The players battled for over two-and-a-half hours as each took turns dominating the opening two sets before going right down to the wire in the final frame.
Fernandez cruised through the first set, breaking Rogers' serve twice while saving all four of her opponent's break-point opportunities. The 19-year-old Canadian rode a superior serve to the first-set victory, winning 60.5 percent of her service points compared to 50 percent by the American.
As good as Fernandez looked in the first set, Rogers was even better in the second. The 28-year-old raced out to a 5-0 lead thanks to three early successful break points, putting her younger opponent on the back foot almost immediately. Fernandez was able to save herself from being blanked in the middle set, managing to steal a game with Rogers serving for the set, but the veteran broke right back to force a decider.
Fernandez started the third set with a break, but Rogers hit right back with one of her own. The players both eventually succeeded at holding serve, trading games all the way until the tiebreak. It was there that Rogers pulled away for good, leaving Fernandez to rue the 10 unconverted break points she had accrued during the third set.
For Rogers, the victory over Fernandez marks consecutive wins over Canada's top women's players, as the South Carolina native defeated Bianca Andreescu in straight sets at the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic just under two weeks ago.