Leylah Fernandez Reaches Tokyo Final After Tough Semifinal Win
Leylah Fernandez is one win away from another title, and she had to dig for it in Tokyo.
The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., ground past Kamilla Rakhimova 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday in a Japan Open semifinal that was tighter than the straight-sets score suggests. It took her one hour 54 minutes to finally break the Uzbek’s resistance and punch her ticket to Sunday’s final.
The opening set turned into a test of nerve. Fernandez probed, pressed, and finally cracked Rakhimova late in the set, edging ahead 7-5 to seize control of the match. From there, the Canadian’s baseline rhythm and counter-punching took over. She managed the key moments in the second set, protecting her serve and striking when the chances came to close out a 6-3 finish.
Waiting in the final is Diana Shnaider, who brings plenty of momentum of her own. The Russian fought off Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the other semifinal, surviving a tense second-set tiebreak to secure her place in Sunday’s showdown.
Two Canadians, two Sunday finals
Tokyo will not be the only stage with a Canadian in the spotlight.
Gabriela Dabrowski, the top seed in the women’s doubles draw alongside Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani, also powered into a Sunday final. The Ottawa native and Stefani had to come from behind, outlasting Australian pair Storm Hunter and Maya Joint 5-7, 6-4, 10-3 in a match tiebreak on Saturday.
After dropping the first set, Dabrowski and Stefani tightened up on serve, flipped the momentum in the second, and then dominated the deciding super tiebreak to underline why they came in as the team to beat.
Their reward is a final against the experienced Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. The Italians looked ruthless in their semifinal, sweeping past Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíková and Great Britain’s Olivia Nicholls 6-4, 6-0 to set up a clash with the top seeds.
Andreescu extends streak in Mexico
Hundreds of kilometres away, another Canadian star kept her own run alive.
Bianca Andreescu needed just 55 minutes to dismantle Spain’s Alicia Herrero Linana 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Querétaro Open, a WTA 125 event in Querétaro, Mexico, on Friday. The No. 4 seed from Mississauga, Ont., barely gave her opponent a foothold, rolling to her ninth straight victory.
Andreescu was scheduled to face France’s Carole Monnet in Saturday’s semifinals, with a place in the final — and a continuation of her resurgent streak — on the line.
On three different courts, in two different countries, Canadian tennis is pushing deep into the business end of the week. Sunday will reveal just how far this surge can go.
