Leylah Fernandez ousted early as Canadians crash out of National Bank Open

Leylah Fernandez is out of the singles draw at the National Bank Open.

The Canadian tennis star was upset 6-4, 6-2 by American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger in second-round action Thursday.

Fernandez — the tournament's No. 15 seed from Laval, Que. — was the last Canadian player remaining at the country's signature event, including the men's bracket in Montreal.

Marina Stakusic, a 19-year-old wild card from Mississauga, Ont., was also eliminated after getting thumped 6-0, 6-2 by Taylor Townsend of the U.S.

No. 1 seed Coco Gauff, meanwhile, cruised past Yafan Wang 6-4, 6-2.

The 20-year-old American, who won last year's U.S. Open and was coming off a third-round showing on clay at the Paris Olympics following the grass season, played her first hard-court match since the Miami Open in April.

"It's not easy transitioning from all these different surfaces in such a short amount of time," Gauff said. "Happy to get pushed through."

Other seeds advancing at the $3.2-million US event were No. 5 Daria Kasatkina, No. 6 Liudmila Samsonova, No. 8 Emma Navarro, No. 10 Anna Kalinskaya, No. 11 Marta Kostyuk, No. 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia and No. 14 Diana Shnaider. No. 7 Madison Keys retired from her match with a thigh injury.

No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who won this year's Australian Open, was slated to face Yue Yuan in the night session.

Loving the hard courts