French Open: Leylah Fernandez downs Belinda Bencic in fiery third-round epic after umpire row

Published 27/05/2022 at 13:08 GMT

Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez was taken to three sets by her more experienced Swiss opponent, Belinda Bencic, in the third round of the French Open on Friday afternoon. Bencic was outraged by a time violation called against her but Fernandez held her nerve to win the decisive third set in a bad-tempered contest.

'You have to be fair!' - Furious Bencic rows with umpire over time violation

Leylah Fernandez defeated a furious Belinda Bencic 7-5 3-6 7-5 in the third round of the French Open in a fractious three-hour match-up.

Fernandez was able to take the first set as the players battled to 5-5 with the set evenly balanced, but the Canadian was able to push home and go 1-0 up against her experienced rival.

Bencic is ranked 15th in the world and Fernandez 17th, so a tight match-up had been on the cards.

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The Swiss had reached the third round with a win over another Canadian, Bianca Andreescu, while Fernandez had defeated Katerina Siniakova.

Bencic was furious with the umpire when she was warned for a time violation, failing to meet her opponent’s pace on her serve.

Facing down the official, Bencic said: “Just because she’s [Fernandez] playing in 10 seconds, I don’t have to be ready after 10 seconds, I have 15 seconds left.

“Do you think I can be ready in 10 seconds in this huge stadium? Do you want to explain to me why she is playing in 10 seconds?

“You cannot be stressing players like this. What option?

“I went to the towel once in the game, one time, I’m not going to the towel every point. You have to be fair now, you have to be fair.

“The time is something but the brain is something else.”

That appeared to inspire her as she broke to go 2-1 up, and she maintained her superiority to go 5-3 up in pursuit of a levelling second set before breaking again to set up a decisive third.

The 25-year-old broke early again before Fernandez did the same, holding her serve to bring things level at 2-2, and she then gave herself an excellent chance of victory when she broke to 4-3 up and left her opponent serving to stay in the match.

Bencic was able to push to break and take it to 5-5, only to be broken back and staring defeat in the face before the 19-year-old sealed her place in the round of 16 for the first time in her career.

Fernandez will face Amanda Asinimova in the fourth round after Karolina Muchova had to retire from their match in heartbreaking fashion through injury.