Tennis: Victoria Mboko defeats compatriot Leylah Fernandez to reach Strasbourg semi-finals

Victoria Mboko defeated Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg presented on Thursday (21 May), with the top seed overpowering her compatriot in an all-Canadian tennis quarter-final on clay.

Mboko was dominant on serve throughout, winning 82.1 per cent of first-serve points compared to Fernandez's 58.7 per cent. The 19-year-old broke Fernandez's serve four times across both sets to seize control of the match.

Tokyo 2020 Olympian Fernandez, seeded seventh, showed resilience under pressure, saving seven of the 11 break points she faced and converting both of her own opportunities. But eight double-faults to Mboko's five proved costly, and the left-hander couldn't sustain sufficient pressure on the Mboko serve.

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