Resilient Fernandez Overcomes Rybakina To Reach DC Open Final

Leylah Fernandez
Leylah Fernandez (photo: Wick Photography/Mubadala Citi DC Open)

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

There are flags representing all of the nations with players competing this week in the Mubadala Citi DC Open that line the perimeter of the upper deck of Stadium Court at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, D.C. On Saturday, none waved more proudly than the Nation Flag of Canada, with its stylized red maple leaf in the center.

That’s because 36th-ranked Canadian Leylah Fernandez, a native of Montreal, showed her resilience in fighting back from the brink of defeat to triumph over World No. 12 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. In three tightly-contested, tie-break sets, Fernandez prevailed, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), in a semifinal marathon that spread over three hours and 12 minutes.

The victory advanced Fernandez into Sunday’s WTA 500 title match against No. 48 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, who held off 46th-ranked Emma Raducanu of Great Britain. It prevented a rematch of the women’s 2021 US Open final, which Raducanu won over Fernandez.

The third-seeded Rybakina served for the match against Fernandez, up a set and a break at 5-4 in the second set, but wasn’t able to close the deal. She never achieved match point. Instead, Fernandez dug in on another hot and humid, sticky Washington, D.C. afternoon and broke the 2022 Wimbledon champion to level the set at 5-all. Then, she won the second set in a tie-break to force a decider – and went on to garner the semifinal victory. Next, Fernandez will be playing in her first tour-level final in over a year, since reaching the 2024 final at Eastbourne on grass.

“It was definitely a tough match. It was a battle from beginning to end,” Fernandez said during her post-match news conference. “I knew Elena, she’s going to come in strong, especially being super aggressive from the first two balls.

“I just tried to focus on my own game, and I’m glad that in important moments I was able to pull through.”

At just 5-feet-6-inches tall, the 22-year-old Fernandez may not have all of the weapons that her opponents possess, but her fighting spirit and resilience are what carried her through Saturday’s semifinal victory – her 17th of the season against 16 losses. Fernandez’s serving performance included 12 aces and a 72-percent efficiency of winning points on her first serve.

She also won 66 percent of her second-serve points and saved four of five break points. By comparison, Rybakina, 26, who leads the WTA Tour in service aces with 276, countered with 17 aces – two off her career-best – and hit 44 winners overall but also made a whopping 64 unforced errors, while Fernandez committed just 28. Rybakina was broken once. By the end, the lefty Fernandez was ahead on total points by a slim 127-123 margin. The loss dropped Rybakina’s 2025 win-loss record to 31-14.

Until the semifinal, Rybakina had not dropped a set in victories over 18-year-old qualifier Victoria Mboko of Canada and No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland. She was the highest-remaining seed after both No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 2 seed Emma Navarro, both from the United States, were upset in the second round – Pegula by Fernandez, who began the tournament with a straight set win over 38th-ranked Australian teenager Maya Joint. Then, after upsetting the World No. 4 Pegula in a tough three-setter, Fernandez eliminated American qualifier Taylor Townsend in a grueling two-hour, 21-minute quarterfinal in straight sets, in which she overcame leg cramps in the final set.

“Hard work and fight have been the pillars, my tennis journey, my dad [and coach] and I and our family on everyday life,” Fernandez emphasized.

In Sunday afternoon’s final, Fernandez will face Kalinskaya, who prevailed over Raducanu, 6-4, 6-3, in an hour and 34 minutes. The Russian hit 31 winners, converted four of six break points and outpointed the British No. 2 68-60.

For Fernandez, she will be competing in her seventh tour-level final. She owns three hard-court titles on the WTA Tour. With a pair of Top-20 wins this week at the DC Open, Fernandez will re-enter the Top-30 on Monday, climbing at least nine spots.

“I think mentally, I told myself before the match that I have already gone through the worst yesterday,” Fernandez said. “So, you know, today I was just, like, go out there and push through. … If I was going to get rolled out in a stretcher today, then so be it, but I was just going to give it my all.”

Meanwhile, Kalinskaya is through to her third career final after losing a pair of title matches in Dubai and Berlin last year. Her win over Raducanu improved her win-loss record this season to 14-12 and her victory Saturday was her third straight win versus a Top-50 opponent.

“It was a good match from both of us. It’s nice to play against Emma,” Kalinskaya said during her post-match news conference. “I didn’t know what to expect. She’s a very tricky player. I’m glad I could stay focused on myself and finish the match in two sets.”

In three trips to the DC Open dating back to 2019, Kalinskaya has never finished worse than the quarterfinals while compiling a 9-2 record in the nation’s capital. This week, she has strung together a quartet of impressive straight-set victories over Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia, No. 8 seed Magda Lynette of Poland, No. 4 seed Clara Tauson of Denmark and Raducanu.

A victory by either Fernandez or Kalinskaya would represent their biggest title of their career.

“She’s a very fast player, so it’s going to be very intense rallies. That’s what I’m expecting,” Kalinskaya said of Fernandez. “She’s a lefty. It’s always different to play against a left-handed player.”

De Minaur reaches second DC Open final – first since 2018

World No. 13 Alex de Minaur of Australia, who leads all players in ATP 500 wins since the start of the 2023 season (41), advanced to his 19th career ATP Tour final and second title match in Washington, D.C. – his first one since losing the 2018 final to Alexander Zverev – with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over 59th-ranked French lucky loser Corentin Moutet in one hour and 44 minutes.

The 26-year-old Frenchman became the second lucky loser in Washington history to reach semifinals after Peter Gojowczyk of Germany in 2019 in reaching the seventh – and biggest – ATP Tour semifinal of his career. 

Moutet, who was going after his 20th victory of the season, aimed to become the fifth Frenchman to play in the Washington, D.C. final after Yannick Noah (1985), Thierry Tulasne (1986), Arnaud Clement (2006) and Gaël Monfils (2011, 2016).

However, the seventh-seeded de Minaur produced some of his scrappiest tennis of the week when it mattered – hitting 20 winners, winning 71 percent of his first-serve points and converting five of seven break points – which overcame 33 unforced errors. He outpointed Moutet 71-53, which included winning 14 consecutive points at the start of the second set. It all added up to de Minaur’s ATP-leading 21st hard-court victory of the season. His win over Moutet improved his 2025 win-loss record to 34-13. 

“It wasn’t pretty tennis by any means. I knew it was going to be a battle,” de Minaur said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “It was going to be a tricky match with not a lot of rhythm. It’s just what [Moutet] tends to do to an opponent. I just had the mentality to do what it took today to get myself into a title match tomorrow. … I’m looking forward to a challenge.”

De Minaur leaped past Andrey Rublev to become No. 10 on PIF ATP Live Rankings by reaching his second final at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center, returning to Top 10 after a five-week absence.

On Sunday, de Minaur will face No. 12 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, who defeated World No. 8 Ben Shelton, the last American left in singles action, 6-2, 7-5, in one hour and 19 minutes late Saturday night. Davidovich Fokina, who knocked off American No. 1 and top seed Taylor Fritz in a lengthy three-setter that ended at 1:45 a.m. Saturday morning, hit just 10 winners but took full advantage of Shelton’s 35 unforced errors and seven double faults. Davidovich Fokina outpointed Shelton 61-46. It was his third career victory over Shelton – and second of the season – and his third straight triumph over an American, which included his third-round win over Learner Tien on Thursday.

Davidovich Fokina is  just the second Spanish finalist in Washington, D.C., following Alex Corretja’s victory over five-time champion Andre Agassi in 2000.

“I knew that I wouldn’t be fresh after such a late finish, but I knew with Ben that there wouldn’t be a lot of long rallies and it would be a quick match. I knew I had to be there for every point,” Davidovich Fokina said after recording his 32nd win of the season and reaching his third final of the season.

“It’s always special to win against a Top 10 player. To beat one of the best guys in the world is always special. Coming back from 2-5 against Taylor last night was a huge achievement.”

Shelton, who was attempting to reach his fifth ATP Tour final – and second in the United States – was disappointed by his performance. “I didn’t give myself a chance [to play my best tennis today], which was disappointing,” he said.

However, the American No. 2 gave credit to Davidovich Fokina. “He’s always solid. He makes a lot of balls. He moves well. He’s good at turning defense into offense on the move. Credit to him. I thought he played a great match – returned well, was solid from the baseline, played good aggressive tennis, and caused me to press and make a lot of unforced errors. I struggled with my serve from the start. I didn’t think that I was moving great and those two things kind of weighed on the rest of my game.”

Davidovich Fokina and de Minaur have played four times and have split their head-to-head, with the Australian winning both times on hard courts and the Spaniard prevailing on clay and grass.

Townsend and Zhang win doubles title with team camaraderie

Taylor Townsend of the United States and Zhang Shuai of China took command of their DC Open women’s doubles final from the very beginning and breezed to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Americans Caroline Dolehide and Sonia Kenin in just 48 minutes on John Harris Court to win their first WTA Tour doubles title together. 

It’s the second straight DC Open women’s doubles title for Townsend, who teamed with fellow American Asia Muhammad to win the 2024 Washington, D.C. crown. She connected with Zhang this week because her regular doubles partner, Katerina Siniakova of Czechia, was back in her home country competing in singles at the Prague Open.

“I always ask Taylor if I have chance to play with her, because she’s the best,” the soft-spoken Zhang said during her team’s post-match news conference. “I mean, we play [a] couple of times [against each other], all Grand Slam last year, US Open, this year Australian Open, French Open, Dubai. So we know each other on court very well, but we are not talking this much off court.

“So, this week we talking about life, not only tennis, you know, not only on court. We talk about many things, so we feel like, oh, we are so many, you know, kind of like same personality. So, that’s make us so easy on court. So, we feel like, you know, when we on court, we are like – we first time play together but we feel like one person, you know.”

Townsend and Zhang combined to win 81 percent of their first-serve points, converted six of nine break points and outpointed their opponents 51-23. The lefty Townsend closed out the match with a pair of service aces that whizzed past both Dolehide and Kenin.

“The match was amazing. I think this was the best that we have played,” Townsend said. “From the beginning, we came out really clear of how we wanted to play, were just super free, and I think it showed just from start to finish. We played really, really well. …

“Yeah, I have had a great time here in D.C. It holds some really special memories for me, and I will cherish this week for the rest of my life.”

Saturday’s victory ensured that Townsend will rise to World No. 1 in the WTA Tour Doubles Rankings on Monday, surpassing Siniakova, her regular partner since 2024. It ends Siniakova’s 46-week reign at No. 1. Townsend and Siniakova won Wimbledon and WTA Tour Championships titles last year, and earlier this year added the Australian Open and WTA 1000 Dubai crowns.

There has been plenty of reason for joy for Townsend this week in Washington, D.C. Thirteen years after she reigned as the top junior player, she has ascended to No. 1 position in doubles. Townsend also was a quarterfinalist in singles.

“Honestly I’m just beaming inside. I’m so proud,” Townsend said Friday upon learning she had attained the No. 1 doubles ranking. “It’s been a lot of really hard work. I always saw myself as one of the greatest doubles players. You know, to be No. 1 is something so special and phenomenal.

“I mean, I’m just honestly, like, a little speechless, because it has been a dream. You know, it’s been a really rocky road to get to places. I knew that it was something that I have dreamt of, but it always seemed super far off, and it seemed like so many things had to happen in order for that to become a reality. And so many things have happened for it to become a reality. So I’m really proud.”

During the trophy ceremony, Townsend, with her young, four-year-old son AJ standing beside her, broke down as she thanked her family and friends that have been part of her journey.

Around the DC Open

In men’s doubles, Sunday’s title match was finalized following the two semifinal matches which took place on Saturday. The first semifinal was won by No. 3 seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France over Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in two hours and three minutes on Stadium Court. The Monegasque/French duo outpointed the Argentines 70-69 to improve their win-loss record to 26-13.

The second semifinal was won by No. 1 seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy, who earned their 28th victory of the season, beating Neal Skupski of Great Britain and John-Patrick Smith of Australia, who were playing together for the first time as a team this season, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4, in 87 minutes on John Harris Court. The Italian pair, winners of three titles this season (Adelaide, Rotterdam and Hamburg), outpointed Skupski and Smith. 61-51.

Saturday’s DC Open men’s results

Saturday’s DC Open women’s results 

Sunday’s DC Open order of play

By the numbers

There have been five different American men’s finalists in the DC Open since 2000: Andy Roddick (4; 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009); John Isner (3; 2007, 2013, 2015); James Blake (2; 2002, 2005); Sebastian Korda (1; 2024); Mackenzie McDonald (1; 2021).

“Quotable …”

“I just want to give them a title one year. That’s the biggest thing. I think the event is in a great place. I think it would be an incredible place if my name was around the stadium. That’s yet to be seen.”

– Frances Tiafoe of the United States, during his post-match news conference Friday after losing his quarterfinal match to fellow American Ben Shelton. Tiafoe, who is from nearby Hyattsville, Md., spoke on what it would mean to him to win the DC Open title.

 

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