Leylah escapes with title in Monterrey

MANILA, Philippines, March 8 ------ Leylah Fernandez saved five championship points to carve out a thrilling 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over Camila Osorio of Colombia and retain her title in the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, Mexico yesterday. The Filipina-Canadian-Ecuadorian flipped a 1-4 deficit including a string of championship points to cap off a dramatic escape act for her second Monterrey crown.

As the No. 2 seed and reigning champion, Fernandez loomed as the heavy favorite against the fifth-seeded Colombian but needed all the stops down the stretch highlighted by four aces to atone for her first-set meltdown.

The 19-year-old Fernandez, who made a historic finals appearance in the 2021 US Open, complained of a faulty light late in the final set, causing a 15-minute delay with Osorio ahead, 6-5. I’m very happy to have gone through these hard moments and have fought and found solutions. I hope we have many more finals with Camila because without her, I don’t think this tournament final would be as special,” said Fernandez.

Source: philstar.com