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Laylah Fernandez, Canada’s rising tennis star, was eliminated from the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California on Tuesday.

After the elimination of 21-year-old Bianca Andresscu of Mississauga, Ontario, Fernandez lost to American Shelby Rogers, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 in the round of 16 in the four-round.

Fernandez, a 19-year-old from Laval, Quebec, has shown great promise in her Indian Wells Open debut ranking at 23rd in the pool of mostly seasoned professionals.

She began the BNP Paribas Open by beating Alizé Cornet, from Nice, France, in the second round of play. They proceeded to oust finalist, Anastasia Pavlyuckenkova, from Russia, in round three. However, it was in her third game against Rogers that she lost her way in a final-set tiebreaker and being eliminated just before the quarter-finals.

Some stellar moments in this game for Fernandez was her one-set lead with an opening frame which she successfully saved all four of the breakpoints she faced. She continued to go 2-for-2 on her own break-point conversion putting herself well in the running for the quarterfinals.

During the final set, both Rogers and Fernandez had a combined 15 breakpoints. They blasted shots all the way into a tiebreaker where Fernandez saved a match point at 6-5 in a dazzling all-court point.

Despite the fact Fernandez did not come out on top, the two played a nail-biter of a game that lasted 2 and a half hours.

Although she is coming off this loss and the loss she experienced to fellow teenager, Emma Raducanu, in straight sets in the finals at the US Open, Fernandez continues to be a threat on the court, currently ranking at No. 28 overall.

Fernandez is beginning to become a household name like fellow Canadian tennis sensation, Bianca Andresscu, who ranks at No. 21. Since only having her professional tennis debut in July of 2019, I am sure we will be seeing lots of Laylah Fernandez as she continues to wow us on the court.