Swiatek cruises into third round, Fernandez sisters bounced in doubles at NBO

By Canadian Press on July 30, 2025.

MONTREAL — Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek of Poland cruised into the National Bank Open’s third round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Guo Hanyu of China on Wednesday.

The second-seeded Swiatek hit four aces and converted six break points on eight opportunities, winning the match in 72 minutes.

A day after blaming unfavourable scheduling for her first-round exit in women’s singles, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and sister Bianca Jolie lost 6-4, 6-2 to top-seeded Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in doubles.

Fernandez, who won the D.C. Open on Sunday, anticipated an evening match Tuesday to give her more time to recover. The Canadian lost in straight sets in the afternoon, however, to Australia’s Maya Joint.

Kayla Cross of London, Ont. and Toronto’s Victoria Mboko fell 6-3, 7-6 (0) to Jiang Xinhu of China and Chan Hao-Ching of Taiwan.

Second-seeded Ottawa’s Gabriel Dabrowski and teammate Erin Routliffe of New Zealand were scheduled to take on Americans Sofia Kenin and Caroline Dolehide.

In Wednesday’s night session, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., faced 17th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in second-round singles action.

Bouchard, who announced the hometown tournament would be her last, defeated Colombia’s Emilia Arango in the first round.

This year’s National Bank Open — a WTA 1000-level tournament — debuted a revamped 12-day, 96-player format, with the top 32 seeds receiving byes to the second round.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press