Liudmila Samsonova's sizzling summer continued on Wednesday night as she defeated last year's finalist, No.14 seed Leylah Fernandez, 6-3, 7-6(3) in the second round of the US Open. Here are some takeaways:

It's official -- Samsonova can absolutely hang with anyone: Samsonova is now riding high on a stunning 12-match winning streak. Just outside of the seedings at World No.35, Samsonova is in incredibly hot form right now, and she has not yet cooled off in Grand Slam atmosphere.

At the start of this month, Samsonova notched her second career WTA singles title on the hard courts of Washington, D.C. After a two-week break, Samsonova picked up exactly where she left off by zipping to another title in Cleveland. Her last seven wins, including over Fernandez, have all come in straight sets.

Despite racking up seven Top 20 wins in her career prior to this week, Samsonova had never beaten anyone within that echelon at a major. That all changed on Wednesday night with the 1-hour and 45-minute victory over 14th-ranked Fernandez.

Now that she’s beaten one of the Top 20 at a Grand Slam event, 23-year-old Samsonova should go into any match this fortnight with sky-high confidence.

"It was the first time I played on such a big court here in the US Open, it was unbelievable," Samsonova said afterward. "Against Leylah, it was so tough today. I think my serve was amazing, so it was the key for me today."

Fernandez battled, but Samsonova too strong: Fernandez nearly summoned the magic which propelled her to a life-changing final last year in New York. The 19-year-old Canadian found some deft placement and outstanding reflex shots at key moments, and she was able to valiantly fend off 11 of the 13 break points she faced.

However, Samsonova’s power game was in full flight on Wednesday, as it has been all month. Samsonova served so well that she never faced a break point. Her impeccable returns forced Fernandez into six double faults. So, despite good play by Fernandez, the teen had limited chances to work her way in.

Fernandez's best hopes came at the very end, when she saved five match points at 6-5 before holding to queue up the second-set tiebreak. But after falling behind 0-2 in the breaker, Samsonova dominated from there to pick up yet another win and end Fernandez's 2022 US Open campaign.

Overall, Samsonova finished with 30 winners to 21 unforced errors, while Fernandez's 21 winners were outpaced by 26 unforced errors.

"I like the way I’m playing, the level that I’m playing now," Samsonova said. "That’s what I’m trying to maintain."

Samsonova also added a new voice to her preparation during this latest surge. "After the grass season, I started to work with a mental coach," she said. "I think that was the part where I had more difficulty: to play maybe all the weeks on the same level.

"I think that I had the tennis level, I had the physical [level] already, but I didn’t have the mental level to do something, like, more, or more constantly. So I think I’m on the right way."

Samsonova will now face World No.96 Aleksandra Krunic in the third round, after Krunic upset No.23 seed Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

If both Samsonova and Serena Williams can win their third-round matches, they would meet in a powerful Round-of-16 showdown.

All is not lost for Canada: Earlier in the day, though, Rebecca Marino flew the Canadian Maple Leaf, continuing her own sterling summer with a 6-3, 7-6(5) second-round win over Daria Snigur of Ukraine.

World No.106 Marino, who was completely off the tour for four years between 2014 and 2017, posted the best Grand Slam result of her comeback with the 1-hour and 16-minute victory over qualifier Snigur, who stunned Simona Halep in the first round on Monday.

Snigur could not make it two in a row as big-serving Marino rained 13 aces down during their clash. Snigur fought back from a late break down in the second set, but Marino eked out the tiebreak to seal a straight-sets win.

This month, Marino made the quarterfinals at both Washington D.C. and Granby, her first WTA quarterfinals since 2018. The 31-year-old kept her good form going by making the third round at a major for just the second time in her career -- the previous instance came 11 years ago at 2011 Roland Garros.

A win away from her first Grand Slam Round of 16, Marino has a stern test awaiting her when she faces World No.36 Zhang Shuai of China on Friday. Zhang beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday.