Leylah Fernandez is having a great week at the 2023 Hong Kong Open, as she made it to her first WTA final in 18 months after beating Anna Blinkova.
Fernandez is one of the talented Canadian players, but much like her 2021 US Open final opponent, Emma Raducanu, she struggled to replicate the success after her first major final at Flushing Meadows.
Yet, last year, the Canadian managed to do that, winning the 2022 Monterrey Open final after beating Camila Osorio in a marathon three-set match. Now, 18 months later, she will play in another final.
After beating 16-year-old prodigy Mirra Andreeva and overcoming another teenager, Linda Fruhvirtova, the Canadian set up a semifinal clash with Russia's Anna Blinkova, who was also having a good tournament.
The two met twice before, with each of the players getting one win under their belts, and both of the matches ending in two sets. This time, it wasn't any different.
The first set was dominated by Fernandez, who broke her opponent's serve in the fourth game, and added another break in the game number eight, losing only four points on her serve throughout the set.
Thanks to that, the Canadian was able to win the first set in only 27 minutes, 6-2, and gain the upper hand in the fight for the spot in the final at the 2023 Hong Kong Open.
The second set seemed to go the Canadian's way, but Blinkova attempted to turn things around. When Fernandez led 4-1, the Russian levelled the score at 4-4, but Fernandez upped the level once more, winning the match 6-2, 7-5.
Thanks to that, she will play in her first WTA final in 18 months, and she will have a good chance to win that, taking on either the sixth-seeded Martina Trevisan or an unseeded Katerina Siniakova.
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