Lengthy, level, and no margin for error play provided a classic match in the afternoon women’s semifinal at the D.C. Open.
Leylah Fernandez, playing some of her best tennis since reaching the 2021 U.S. Open final, needed three sets and three tiebreaks to outlast No. 3 Elena Rybakina 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in a thrilling, three-plus-hour match Saturday.
“It was definitely an important moment for myself,” Fernandez said. “I have had a tough couple of years, and there have been key people that stayed with me in those tough moments.”
Service game dominance dictated the first set. Neither woman yielded a break point opportunity, and of the 12 combined games in the set, an incredible seven of them were holds at love. Rybakina only lost one of the 19 points contested on her first serve in the initial set, and broke Fernandez thrice in the tiebreak.
The holding pattern ended immediately in the second. Fernandez was broken in the first, and faced a total of five break points in her first three service games.
“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 [of the court]. He was just telling me, ’Look, bury your serve,’” Fernandez said.
The Canadian rallied late to force another tiebreak. At 5-4, Rybakina served for the match, but fell in a love-40 hole quickly. Fernandez needed all three chances to secure the break to level the set.
“Every changeover, every time I’m at my water bottles, I drink, I try … just to remind myself that it’s not over till it’s over,” Fernandez said.
In the tiebreak, Fernandez sprinted out to a 5-love lead to eventually secure the set, the first Rybakina had lost in her maiden Washington run.
The third looked identical to the first, with no break-point opportunities on either side. Again in the tiebreak, Fernandez seized the advantage, taking a 5-1 lead with points on Rybakina’s first two serves via unforced errors. Rybakina, who leads the WTA Tour in aces this year, hit 17 in the match but was broken on match point for the victory.
“I think mentally I told myself before the match that I have already gone through the worst yesterday. So today I was just, like, go out there and push through,” Fernandez said. “Thankfully the third set, the clouds came in, there was a little bit more wind, so it wasn’t as hot and not as humid as it was yesterday.”
Fernandez will play Sunday afternoon against another first-time D.C. finalist: Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, a straight-set winner over GReat Britain’s Emma Raducanu. A win would be Fernandez’s fourth championship on tour and the biggest title of her career, and for Kalinskaya, the first WTA title of hers.
“It shows me that my level is still there, and I can be there as a top player. I was really close last year to be top 10, but it didn’t happen. I guess it was not the time,” Kalinskaya said. “But I keep working, and I believe that things are going to come.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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