Invited to Strasbourg, Parry Takes Down Fernandez in First Round

Diane Parry secured an impressive victory this Sunday in Strasbourg by defeating world No. 26 Leylah Fernandez in two tight sets, 7-5, 7-6.

The Frenchwoman, who is on the cusp of the Top 100 (ranked 102nd this week), had been eliminated in the second round in Madrid and Saint-Malo before suffering an early exit at the WTA 125 in Paris a few days ago. Benefiting from a wild card in Strasbourg, she drew Fernandez, the 2021 US Open finalist, in the first round.

Trailing 4-1 after 20 minutes of play, Parry didn’t give up and managed to turn the match around by winning six of the next seven games to take the first set 7-5. The second set went to a tie-break, which the French player won 7-3.

Now through to the tournament’s quarterfinals, Parry will face the winner of the match between Linda Noskova and Liudmila Samsonova.