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Saturday was a very good day for Canadian tennis as each Leylah Annie Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski superior to finals on the WTA Tour with semifinal victories.
Fernandez ended a 19-month ultimate drought on Saturday together with her victory within the ultimate 4 of the WTA 250 in Hong Kong over Anna Blinkova in straight units.
Dabrowski and companion Erin Routliffe have been on a roll since teaming up in the summertime and reached their third ultimate since August with a three-set win on the WTA 500 in Zhengzhou over Hanyu Guo and Xinyu Jiang.
Already competing in her first semifinal of the season, Fernandez got here out firing in opposition to the fifth seed Blinkova. Getting over the end line proved tough for the Canadian however she saved pushing till her opponent cracked and reached her first ultimate since Monterrey in 2022 with a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
It was one other environment friendly day for Fernandez, who put a whole lot of first serves in play (75 per cent) but additionally defended her second serve nicely, successful 71 per cent of these factors. She restricted Blinkova to only a single break level. The Canadian feasted on her opponent’s second serve, successful all however two of 17 factors (88 per cent).
In her quarter-final win, Fernandez discovered winners on virtually each huge level and he or she set an analogous tone within the semifinal, firing an off-balance forehand off the again foot up the road to safe an early break for a 3-1 lead.
Learn additionally: Fernandez, Marino, Dabrowski, Bouchard, and Stakusic to represent Team Canada at Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville
With the lead, the Canadian by no means gave Blinkova an opportunity to get again within the opening set. After breaking, she received three of the following 4 video games to like, capping the set off with a drop shot winner to safe a second break.
Fernandez seemed like she was going to cruise into the ultimate when she broke early within the second and took a 3-0 lead, however Blinkova made a push and to get well the break and stage the set at 4-4.
Undeterred, the 21-year-old went proper again to placing strain on her opponent’s serve. In a wild 10th sport, Fernandez went up love-40, with all three break factors being match factors. However Blinkova was not going away quietly, saving all three and one other at 40-AD earlier than holding to increase the match.
The following time Blinkova stepped as much as the road although, Fernandez was not going to let her off the hook. The Canadian went up love-40 once more and this time drew an error with a deep return to guide her spot within the ultimate.
Learn additionally: Bouchard Returns to Team Canada for the First Time Since 2018
Her opponent on Sunday shall be Katerina Siniakova. Fernandez won their lone previous meeting on clay at Roland-Garros in 2022.
Sunday’s ultimate shall be Fernandez’s first title match exterior of North America. Three of her 4 earlier finals have been in Mexico, with the fourth being the 2021 US Open ultimate.
Dabrowski Closes In on Cancun
Whereas Fernandez was making her first deep run of the season, they’ve been commonplace of late for Gabriela Dabrowski and her doubles companion Erin Routliffe. Having solely teamed up in August, the pair reached their third ultimate along with a good Zhengzhou semifinal win over the house hopes Hanyu Guo and Xinyu Jiang.
With the win, the US Open champions transfer nearer to a spot on the WTA Finals.
Dabrowski and Routliffe did every part just a bit bit higher within the semifinal conflict, successful extra of their service factors and a better proportion of return factors, whereas breaking serve yet another time than their opponents. However in the long run, it was simply a few factors within the match tiebreak that made the distinction in a 6-2, 4-6 10-7 win.
The primary set was one-way site visitors for the Canadian-Kiwi combo as they broke twice to take it in precisely half an hour. However a wild second set noticed 5 breaks of serve in 10 video games, the final one going the way in which of Guo and Jiang which compelled a match tiebreak.
Learn additionally: Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships heads to Nova Scotia for the first time in tournament history
There have been many exchanges of minibreaks within the tiebreak, however Dabrowski and Routliffe saved retaining their noses in entrance. The Chinese language pair clawed again and put the breaker again on serve at 7-8, however they misplaced the final two factors of the match on their very own serve to see the US Open champions into the ultimate.
Third seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara await the top-seeded Canadian-Kiwi group within the ultimate.
Simply making the ultimate has considerably boosted Dabrowski and Routliffe’s probabilities of qualifying for the WTA Finals, however a victory would give them a stranglehold on a qualifying spot.
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