Leylah Fernandez has won the fourth WTA title of her career after beating Anna Kalinskaya in the Washington Open final.
Fernandez had already overcome doubters in her tennis career, highlighted by her run to the 2021 US Open final where she lost to Emma Raducanu.
After some mixed results so far this year, the Canadian has shown her potential once again, with Fernandez beating Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Kalinskaya all at one tournament.
The Washington Open is Fernandez’s biggest career title so far, and her first of any kind since 2023, with the 22-year-old now admitting that something surprised her in the final against Kalinskaya.
Leylah Fernandez admits she was ‘surprised’ by something in the Washington Open final
Fernandez had to really fight back in her aforementioned semifinal match against Rybakina, which lasted over three hours.
However, that was not the case at all against Kalinskaya in the final, with Fernandez beating her Russian opponent, 6-1 6-2.
Kalinskaya had been particularly impressive on her first serve in the matches leading up to the final, but was reduced down to just a 62% win percentage against Fernandez.
Fernandez was coming out on top in many of the longer rallies, but she actually admitted in her press conference that this was not her tactic coming into the match.
Kalinskaya was even less effective on her second serve, where she won just two points the whole match, and Fernandez confessed that even she was surprised by how well she was playing.
“Actually, no. My intention was actually to be more offensive than her, but I think at the same time, I like long rallies,” explained Fernandez. “So that kind of helped me to settle in. You know, I knew she was going to be offensive from the get-go, so I had to counterattack as quickly as possible and then get it to the front foot once I had the opportunities.
“So I was just glad I was able to take advantage of certain balls she gave me in certain moments. Balls were going in for me today. I know a couple of shots that I hit, I was even surprised that it went in. So it kind of feels good that this year, today was a good day for me (smiling).”
How has Leylah Fernandez’s ranking been impacted by winning the Washington Open?
Fernandez had only won two of her last five matches coming into the Washington Open, and was ranked at world number 36.
This means she would be just outside the 32 places for the US Open, but she has now significantly improved her chances of that happening.
After winning her first title at WTA 500 level, Fernandez has climbed 14 places up the rankings and is now the world number 24.
This has given Fernandez a strong opportunity to be seeded for the US Open, which should offer her a favourable draw for the opening rounds of the tournament.
Despite her title victory, there is little rest for Fernandez now as she heads to her home WTA 1000 tournament, the Canadian Open, where she will begin her campaign against Maya Joint on Tuesday, July 29.
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