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Leylah Fernandez recovered from a lopsided opening-set loss to beat Poland’s Maja Chwalińska in the semifinals of the Singapore Tennis Open on Saturday.
The Laval, Que., native dropped the first set 6-1 but powered back to take the next two sets 6-4, 6-2.
“Maya, she’s such an amazing player, very tricky to play against,” Fernandez said after the match in an on-court interview. “She doesn’t give you the same ball twice, not even three times. I knew it was going to be tough, and from the beginning, I guess I was just too, I was a little shocked, and then also I got a little too frustrated.
“But of course, the crowd definitely helped me out to reset in the second set, and without you guys, I don’t think I would be in the finals, so thank you so much for the support and always believing in me.”
It marks the first tour-level final of the season for Fernandez, who will face Australia’s Talia Gibson for the title on Sunday in the first meeting of the two women.
Gibson defeated Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in a walkover.
Prozorova said she was unfairly withdrawn from the semifinal because of a doctor’s concerns about a concussion.
She was struck in the face by a ball during a doubles quarterfinal, which prompted an assessment.