Canada’s Leylah Fernandez is feeling good on American soil again. After upsetting No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula in the second round, the World No. 36 moved through to the semifinals of the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win over another American, qualifier Taylor Townsend, on Friday.
Washington, D.C.: Draws | Scores | Order of play
With three wins in D.C., Fernandez is through to the biggest hard-court semifinal of her career since she finished as runner-up to Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open. Fernandez’s three semifinal appearances on the surface since then all came at WTA 250-level events.
To get to the final four, Fernandez staved off a comeback effort from World No. 97 Townsend. After opening up a 5-1 lead in the first set, she broke serve at 5-4 after failing to serve the set out twice. In set two, she came from 5-3 down — saving a set point — and then regrouped from a 5-3 tiebreak deficit to seal the victory in straight sets.
More to come…