Leylah Annie Fernandez is playing some of her best tennis of the year this week at the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, DC. A day after upsetting top seed Jessica Pegula in the second round, the Canadian advanced to her first semifinal of 2025 with a straight-set win over former doubles partner Taylor Townsend.
On a scorching hot day in DC, the Canadian had to battle through some inconsistency and an apparent leg injury late in the second set. But when she had to, Fernandez came up clutch to escape with a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory.
Despite Townsend generally playing a more aggressive game style, Fernandez had 31 winners to the American’s 18. Townsend also had more errors, 29 to 25. The Canadian kept her opponent under constant pressure, creating 23 break point chances, of which she converted five while saving four of seven on her own serve.
A break in the opening game by Townsend shook the Canadian awake. After dropping serve to start the match, Fernandez started to take control of the rallies, moving the American from side to side and seemed able to paint lines at will. As a reward, she reeled off five games in a row to turn the 0-1 deficit into a 5-1 lead.
However, as she served for the set, Fernandez’s delivery deserted her. She started struggling to put serves in play and threw in a few too many double faults. As a result, Townsend managed to break both times Fernandez served for it.
In the end, the Canadian’s return got the job done. Fernandez was able to break Townsend as the American tried to level in the tenth game to finish off the set.
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Fernandez had a few chances to break midway through the second set, but it was Townsend who got the first breakthrough in the seventh game to go up 4-3. But like the Canadian in the opening set, Townsend struggled to close it out. She immediately fell behind love-40 serving at 5-4 and found herself battling to cling to her serve. It took Fernandez eight tries, but she finally broke to get back to 5-all.
During that marathon 10th game, Fernandez pulled up lame and was visibly limping. She began stretching her leg after every point but was able to continue. Perhaps looking to avoid extended rallies to protect her leg, the Canadian upped the aggression and backed up the break with an easy hold.
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Some spectacular defence from the Canadian set up a match point on Townsend’s serve at 5-6 but she could not convert. After rallying from 1-3 down in the tiebreak, Fernandez showed no ill effects from the leg issue a few games earlier and used some more incredible defence to set up a forehand winner that gave her two match points at 6-4. Townsend then sent a backhand long to send the Canadian into the semis.
Fernandez now awaits the winner between third seed Elena Rybakina, who beat Victoria Mboko in the second round, and fifth seed Magdalena Frech.
Feature Photo : Mubadala Citi DC Open