Leylah Fernandez has reached the final of the Washington Open after beating Elena Rybakina in a marathon encounter.
Fernandez demonstrated her grit and determination, defeating Rybakina despite being on the brink of defeat at points in the second set.
The Canadian star, who has three WTA Tour titles to her name, will face Anna Kalinskaya in the Washington Open final on Sunday. She will hope to capture her first title since the 2023 Hong Kong Open.
Speaking to the press after the match, Fernandez revealed a piece of coaching advice that helped her turn the match around at a crucial point in the second set.
Leylah Fernandez was told by her coach to ‘bury’ her serve
Fernandez found herself in a tough spot against Elena Rybakina on Saturday evening.
After losing a close opening set 7-6, Fernandez was broken early in the second set by the Kazakh. At 1-3 down, Fernandez found herself at 0-40 down and on the brink of going down a double break.
However, Fernandez roared back to claim the game, before breaking Rybakina later in the set. Fernandez proceeded to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, eventually triumphing 6-7 7-6 7-6.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Fernandez said: “I wasn’t actually telling myself much at that point. I was just looking at my coach. I think I was on the same side. He was just telling me, Look, bury your serve.
“I guess that’s kind of what I thought of going into that game at Love-40. If I was going to lose that game, I was going to at least do what my coach is telling me.
“I’m glad that at that point it worked out and I was able to kind of zone into the objectives. But yeah, just in that moment, it was actually listen to my coach and execute. Don’t overthink too much.”
2021 US Open final rematch scuppered
Many tennis fans will have hoped for a rematch of the 2021 US Open final after Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu reached the semi-final stage in Washington.
Emma Raducanu was Fernandez’s conqueror in the 2021 US Open final. On that day over four years ago, 19-year-old Fernandez lost to Raducanu in straight sets, rounding up a miracle two weeks for both players.
Since their early successes, both Fernandez and Raducanu have failed to reach the heights that many may have expected of them.
While Fernandez overcame a marathon match against former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, Raducanu failed to reach the final after losing to Anna Kalinskaya.
