WASHINGTON — Leylah Fernandez will likely be making an attempt to win her first WTA title of the season, and Anna Kalinskaya will search the primary of her profession once they meet one another within the ultimate of the hard-court DC Open.
Fernandez, the runner-up on the 2021 US Open, hit 12 aces and picked up her second victory of the week towards a top-20 opponent by beating 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) throughout 3 hours, 16 minutes within the semifinals Saturday.
Kalinskaya wanted lower than half as a lot time to eradicate Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-3 with the assistance of 14 backhand winners within the different ladies’s semifinal. It was Raducanu who defeated Fernandez for the championship at Flushing Meadows 4 years in the past.
Each finalists are unseeded. Canada’s Fernandez, who’s 22 years outdated, is ranked thirty sixth; Russia’s Kalinskaya, 26, is ranked forty eighth.
Kalinskaya moved into her third tour-level ultimate. She went 0-2 in title matches final season.
Fernandez, who bought previous top-seeded Jessica Pegula earlier within the week, owns three titles. Sunday’s matchup will likely be her seventh profession ultimate.
No. 7 seed Alex de Minaur superior to his second Washington ultimate by beating Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3. De Minaur will face No. 12 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated No. 4 Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-5 within the different semifinal.
The semifinal win was de Minaur’s twentieth victory on a tough court docket in 2025, essentially the most on the ATP tour. The Australian, who’s thirteenth within the rankings, moved into his nineteenth profession ultimate; he is 9-9 up to now. One of many runner-up finishes got here towards Alexander Zverev at Washington in 2018.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
