Canadian tennis sensation, Leylah Fernandez takes on Russia’s Anastasia Potapova in her first match at the 2024 Madrid Open. Widely regarded as one of the brightest prospects in women’s tennis, the 21-year-old has already achieved some extraordinary results. Unfortunately, the 2024 season hasn’t yet kicked off the way she would have wanted and Leylah Fernandez is now looking to change her fortunes in Madrid. But standing in her way is in-form Anastasia Potapova.

Potapova has already made three QF runs this season, and she got off to a winning start in Madrid as well. It will be interesting to see if the 23-year-old Russian can carry forward this momentum for the rest of the season. But for now, she needs to overcome this Canadian hurdle to progress further in the Madrid Open.

Leylah Fernandez vs Anastasia Potapova: Preview

Both the young guns are set to roar in Madrid! Leylah Fernandez started her season representing her nation at the United Cup. After that, she reached the second round of the AO and then she carried forward her momentum to make a QF run at the Qatar Open earlier this year. However, she looked a bit shaky in the rest of the tournaments this season. Fernandez was defeated by Sloane Stephens in her previous match at the Charleston Open. The American tennis star outclassed the Canadian by a 6-4,6-4 margin.

Leylah Fernandez could only manage to hit one ace throughout the match but committed six double faults against Stephens. Her first serve win percentage was recorded at 52% but her numbers improved a bit on the second serve. She won 70% of her second serve and converted 50% of her breakpoints (1/2). Fernandez won seven of her service games against the American.

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Fernandez has hit only twenty-two aces so far this season but has committed fifty-six double faults in total. Anastasia Potapova, on the other hand, has fired forty-one aces and committed seventy-seven double faults in 2024. So, serves aren’t something they can boast in this season!

But if we look at Potapova’s numbers from her previous match against her compatriot Diana Shnaider at the Madrid Open, she hit five aces and committed only three double faults. Her first serve win percentage was 66% while it was reduced to 57% in her second serve. Anastasia Potapova successfully converted five of her nine breakpoints and won eight service games against Shnaider. Who looks ahead looking at these stats? 

Fernandez vs Potapova: Head-to-Head

While it seemed a close margin looking at the previous numbers, it’s quite a one-sided battle looking at their H2H stats. They had met each other twice in their careers so far. Leylah Fernandez won their first clash at the 2020 Mexican Open by 6-3,7-5. It was followed by yet another Canadian triumph at the 2021 French Open. In that match, Fernandez completely outclassed Potapova by 6-2,6-1.

But surprisingly Leylah Fernandez failed to hit even a single ace in that match. Whereas the Russian had hit three aces against the Canadian. Fernandez had a first-serve win percentage of 77% compared to only 59% of Potapova. Even on the second serve win percentage the left-handed Canadian had the upper hand against the right-handed Potapova. It has been a sheer dominance from Leylah Fernandez in their previous meetings. Will it be the same in their next faceoff as well?

Prediction: Potapova to open her account against Fernandez

Leylah Fernandez reached the second round of the Madrid Open in 2022. Potapova had also reached the second round of the tournament last year. The Canadian reached the QF of the French Open in 2022. But she has lost four out of the last five outings, while Potapova has won two out of her last three matches on clay this season. If we look at their win-loss record for this season, Leylah Fernandez has a 7-8 record while Anastasia Potapova has an 11-8 record.

Both of them are known for their athleticism on their court, but Potapova has a reputation for disrupting all the equations causing a few surprises in the tournament. Although Fernadez (35) sits four places above Potapova (39) in the current women’s singles ranking, if we look at the current form, the Russian looks slightly ahead of the Canadian in this intriguing encounter.