WASHINGTON – Leylah Fernandez and Anna Kalinskaya will face each other in the DC Open final, both seeking their first WTA title of the season.
Fernandez, runner-up of the 2021 US Open, hit 12 aces and secured her second win of the week against a top-20 opponent by defeating Elena Rybakina, 2022 Wimbledon champion, with a score of 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in a match that lasted 3 hours and 16 minutes in Saturday’s semifinals.
Kalinskaya needed less time to eliminate Emma Raducanu with a score of 6-4, 6-3, thanks to 14 backhand winners in the other women’s semifinal. Raducanu was the one who defeated Fernandez for the championship at Flushing Meadows four years ago.
Both finalists are not classified. Fernandez, from Canada and 22 years old, is ranked 36th; Kalinskaya, from Russia and 26 years old, is in 48th place.
Kalinskaya advances to her third final at the tournament level. Last season, she had a record of 0-2 in title matches.
Fernandez, who defeated Jessica Pegula, the top seed, earlier in the week, has three titles to her name. Sunday’s match will be her seventh career final.
Alex de Minaur, seventh seed, advanced to his second final in Washington by defeating Corentin Moutet with a score of 6-4, 6-3. De Minaur will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, number 12, who defeated Ben Shelton, number 4, with a result of 6-2, 7-5 in the other semifinal.
The semifinal victory was De Minaur’s twentieth on hard court in 2025, the most on the ATP circuit. The Australian, ranked 13th, advanced to his 19th career final; so far he has a 9-9 record. One of the times he was runner-up was against Alexander Zverev in Washington in 2018.
