Serbian draws on memories of second-week breakthrough to see off Fernandez
©André Ferreira / FFTOlga Danilovic bt Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-1
Olga Danilovic has staked an early claim as the most dangerous unseeded floater in the Roland-Garros women’s draw following a resounding defeat of 27th seed Leylah Fernandez on Sunday.
The Serbian arrived in Paris as the second-highest ranked player outside the seeds but cared little for the lack of a number next to her name as she outwitted her fellow southpaw at her own game.
Despite narrowly missing out on a seeding, Danilovic could have done worse than draw a player only seven spots above her in the rankings.
The Canadian, whose career highlight remains a runner-up showing at the 2021 US Open, had not strung together back-to-back wins in her past seven tournaments and her lack of matches showed as she was troubled on serve throughout the opening set.
A year ago, Danilovic won through qualifying and went on to notch her maiden fourth-round appearance at a major on a streak that included victories over 11th seed Danielle Collins and Donna Vekic, both from a set down.
©André Ferreira / FFTThe 24-year-old, a finalist at the WTA 250 in Rouen and winner of the WTA 125 event in Antalya this year, rammed home her early advantage before a packed Court 8 with her third break for the opening set in just 37 minutes.
Fernandez was no slouch on the red dirt, having reached her sole Slam quarterfinal after her US Open charge, in 2022, and as a girls’ singles champion from 2019, but it went from bad to worse for her when she fell behind an early break in the second set.
With assured shot selection and effortlessly gliding on the terre battue, she fell victim to a clinical clay-court display.
On arguably the point of the match, Danilovic slid smoothly into a short backhand and rolled it down the line to seal the contest after 73 minutes to await either Jodie Burrage or a rematch with Collins.
Danilovic was devastating on return as she claimed 75 per cent of points on her opponent’s second serve.
She broke on five of her nine opportunities and while her 18 winners were only one more than Fernandez’s, she was far less erratic committing just 17 unforced errors to 28.
In levelling the head-to-head ledger at one-apiece, Danilovic improved her record in Paris to 12-6 and ensured she reached the second round at the event for the fourth straight year.
Fernandez slipped to 3-8 at all levels since her Abu Dhabi quarterfinal in February.
How she prepared to face a fellow lefty: "Normally I play against righties so in Grand Slams it's nice because you have some time to try to find a lefty to practise with, but in this match, honestly, I knew who I was playing against and if I wasn't aggressive she would be for sure, so I knew what I had to do and what my game should look like on court. I think I did it really well and I'm proud of that."
Finding a fellow lefty to practise with is as difficult as Ben Shelton and Jack Draper suggest: "It's so true because when I'm playing a righty and I ask a girl she's like 'yeah, but I can't, blah blah blah", but then when they're playing lefties, oh my god, I have like 10 requests for the practice, so it is true it's not that easy to find the practice partner but I think we're used to that by now."
Debut run to a Grand Slam fourth round spurs on Danilovic: "Definitely, I take it as confidence because I love to play here and in general in France I play quite good so I took it as a positive thing that I know the court and I know how to play here. I'm enjoying it very much."
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT