At the start of the day, Garcia overcame the fierce resistance of young Fernandez to win 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 in 2 hours and 13 minutes on Center Court in Indian Wells (California). .).
After a tough previous match, the winner of past WTA Finals had to roll up her sleeves again against Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up, who had already been defeated two months earlier at the Australian Open.
The first set was a full French, with Garcia effectively showing off his aggressive tennis and taking advantage of his only break opportunity.
In the second set, both players defended their serve, and Fernandez, who fought to the last ball, won the “tie-breaker” with a final cross that stunned Garcia into the net.
The Canadian, whose father is Ecuadorean, again put Garcia in trouble early in the third set, forcing her to save two break points.
The Frenchwoman saved the day and now she will have another chance to break the last-16 barrier in the California desert.
Garcia, who reached the semi-finals of the last US Open, will face Romanian Sorana Cirstea, 83 of the WTA, who beat American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-1.
Fran Cerúndolo is located
At the ATO Masters 1000, Argentina’s Francisco Sirondolo fell against Félix Auger-Aliassime, the same executioner from the last Australian Open in January.
Cerúndolo, 32 of the ATP, fought back to five match points from Auger-Aliassime (10) but ended up losing 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes of play.
And the 22-year-old Canadian, one of the greatest promises on the circuit, will face American Tommy Ball in his first round of 16 in Indian Wells, who surprised ninth-seeded Polish Hubert Hurkacz.
Two months earlier, Auger-Aliassime had already eliminated Cerúndolo in the third round of the Australian Open, the first major tournament of the year.
Cerúndolo will now focus on preparing for the Miami Open, also in the Masters 1000 category, where last year he was a great revelation by reaching the semi-finals.
Monday’s program also included the third round matches between the top two seeds in the tournament.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz faced Dutch Talon Grikspur tonight, and Polish Iga Swiatek faced Canadian Bianca Andreescu.
Monday’s results in Indian Wells:
men
Third round
Tommy Paul (USA/#17) defeated Hubert Hurkacz (Poland/#9) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN/#8) beat Francisco Sirondolo (ARG/#27) 7-5 6-4
slim
Third round
Sorana Cirstea (Rum) beat Bernarda Pera (USA) 6-3 6-1
Caroline Garcia (France/No. 5) defeated Leila Fernandez (Canada/Northern 30) 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1
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