WASHINGTON – Leylah Fernandez and Anna Kalinskaya will face each other in the DC Open final in search of their first WTA title of the season and the first of their careers, respectively.
Fernandez, runner-up of the 2021 US Open, hit 12 aces and secured her second victory of the week against a top-20 opponent, defeating Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, with a score of 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) after 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. It was Raducanu who defeated Fernandez for the championship at Flushing Meadows four years ago.
Both finalists are unseeded. The Canadian Fernandez, 22 years old, is ranked 36th; the Russian Kalinskaya, 26 years old, is in 48th place.
Kalinskaya advanced to her third tour-level final. Last season, she had a 0-2 record in title matches.
Fernandez, who defeated top seed Jessica Pegula earlier in the week, has three titles. Sunday’s match will be her seventh career final.
Alex de Minaur, seventh seed, advanced to his second Washington final by defeating Corentin Moutet with a score of 6-4, 6-3. De Minaur will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, twelfth seed, who defeated Ben Shelton, fourth seed, with a result of 6-2, 7-5 in the other semifinal.
The semifinal victory was De Minaur’s 20th 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 runner-up finishes was against Alexander Zverev in Washington in 2018.
