Leylah Fernandez Advances to the Japan Open Final
The tennis player Leylah Fernandez, the last seeded player at the WTA Japan Open, has qualified for Sunday’s final after defeating Sorana Cîrstea.
Fernandez defeated Cîrstea with a score of 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
In the decisive set, with a score of 4-4, Fernandez managed to break Cîrstea’s serve and then held her own serve in the next game, securing her advance to the final.
The Canadian player, seeded number four, will face young Tereza Valentova, 18 years old, who managed to qualify in the final.
Valentova defeated Jaqueline Cristian with a score of 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal.
Cristian had advanced to the semifinals after Naomi Osaka, the top seed, withdrew due to a left leg injury on Friday, granting the Romanian player a direct pass to the next round in the quarterfinals.
Fernandez, runner-up of the 2021 US Open, reaches her eighth final in her career.
Her only previous semifinal appearance this season was at the WTA 500 D.C. Open, where she was crowned champion after defeating Anna Kalinskaya, obtaining her fourth WTA singles title.
Fernandez was defeated in three sets by Coco Gauff in the second round of the China Open at the end of September.
