WASHINGTON — Leylah Fernandez will be trying to win her first WTA title of the season, and Anna Kalinskaya will seek the first of her career when they meet each other in the final of the hard-court DC Open.
Fernandez, the runner-up at the 2021 US Open, hit 12 aces and picked up her second victory of the week against a top-20 opponent by beating 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) across 3 hours, 16 minutes in the semifinals Saturday.
Kalinskaya needed less than half as much time to eliminate Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-3 with the help of 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. Canada’s Fernandez, who is 22 years old, is ranked 36th; Russia’s Kalinskaya, 26, is ranked 48th.
Kalinskaya moved into her third tour-level final. She went 0-2 in title matches last season.
Fernandez, who got past top-seeded Jessica Pegula earlier in the week, owns three titles. Sunday’s matchup will be her seventh career final.
No. 7 seed Alex de Minaur advanced to his second Washington final by beating Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3. De Minaur will face No. 12 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated No. 4 Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-5 in the other semifinal.
The semifinal win was de Minaur’s 20th victory on a hard court in 2025, the most on the ATP tour. The Australian, who is 13th in the rankings, moved into his 19th career final; he’s 9-9 so far. One of the runner-up finishes came against Alexander Zverev at Washington in 2018.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
