Leylah Fernandez reached her first semifinal of the season in Singapore on Friday, and she did it in style.
The former US Open runner-up took out top-seeded Mirra Andreeva, 6-2, 7-5, to book her spot in the 500-level semifinal and maintain her perfect record against the Russian teen on hard courts.
That’s three wins in three tries against Andreeva on hard courts for Fernandez, including two this year. Andreeva has defeated Fernandez in both of their clay-court meetings.
What made the difference for the 24-year-old Canadian?
“I would say that I was just solid throughout. And then, of course, in the second set, it was very tough to close it out. Mirra, she’s such a fighter,” Fernandez said. “I was just happy that at 5-all, I was able to refocus and just regroup from there and continue hitting my patterns. And, of course, enjoying the atmosphere here. I’m most proud of doing that.”
Fernandez was dialed in from the start, dictating play and putting pressure on Andreeva in all corners of the court.
She ran away with the opening set, sealing it on an Andreeva double fault, but the second set was hotly contested.
After trailing by a break in the set, Fernandez won four of five games to lead 5-2. She then served for the win at 5-3, only to be broken. Three games later, she finally sealed the deal, breaking Andreeva as she served to force a tiebreak to close the match in 92 minutes.
“I think it’s just enjoying the process, enjoying the work, enjoying the fight,” Fernandez said. “I mean, no rounds are easy. And, of course, I’m just enjoying my time here on Centre Court, in front of everyone.”
Fernandez will take on Poland’s Maja Chwalinska next.
This year’s Roland Garros runner-up is showing good form again, as she has powered into her second career semifinal without dropping a set. She defeated Elise Mertens, the defending champion, 6-2, 6-2.
Talia Gibson took out Maria Sakkari, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, while Tatiana Prozorova defeated Wang Xinyu for her third consecutive three-set win to reach her first career semifinal. Those two will meet in an unseeded lower-half semifinal.
0 comments