Quick second round win for Routliffe and Fernandez at Roland Garros

Erin Routliffe and Leylah Fernandez have advanced to the third round of the women’s doubles at Roland Garros in emphatic fashion, defeating Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya from Japan 6-0 6-1.

This match lasted just 48 minutes on a sun-drenched Court Four and although Routliffe had strapping on her left thigh again, it didn’t appear to be bothering her.

This was the most one-sided victory Routliffe has been involved in since she and Maddison Inglis defeated Emma and Juliette Mazzoni 6-0 6-0 at an ITF tournament in Montpellier, France in 2021.

Routliffe and Fernandez barely put a foot wrong in this match. The Canadian brought the aggression and the Kiwi the consistency and their Japanese opponents didn’t have any answers for how to play against them, particularly when Fernandez and Routliffe were together at the net.

The first set was over in just 20 minutes, with Routliffe and Fernandez winning all 10 points when they got their first serve in.

But the prospect of a double bagel ended when Hozumi held serve in the opening game of the second set, while Fernandez had to save a break point on her serve in the next game.

However, Ninomiya had her serve broken in the third game, which brought an end to the brief period in this match when Hozumi and Ninomiya were able to live with Routliffe and Fernandez.

The match ended with Ninomiya serving at 1-5 and on the third match point Hozumi went too long with a lob over Routliffe’s head.

In the third round, the No 9 seeds will play against Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine and Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Later on Monday Routliffe teamed up with Michael Venus in the mixed doubles for a 6-4 6-2 second-round win over Clara Burel and Hugo Gaston, who are both from France.

It took 58 minutes for the Kiwis to win this match and go through to the quarterfinals, where they will play the winner of the match between Ena Shibahara and Nathaniel Lammons against the No 2 seeds Laura Siegemund and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

That match will take place on Tuesday, so Routliffe and Venus won’t be in action again until Wednesday.