Canada will have two shots at a trophy on Sunday at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis in Tokyo, Japan.
Leylah Annie Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski will contest the singles and doubles finals respectively after victories in their respective semifinals on Saturday at the WTA 500 event.
Fernandez advanced to the singles final with a straight-set win in her semifinal against lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova. The Lavalloise is yet to drop a set this week in Tokyo. She took down Himeno Sakatsume in round one and then upset fifth seed Elise Mertens for the second week in a row to reach the quarter-finals, where she got a free pass when world No. 1 Elena Rybakina withdrew.
In the semi, Fernandez got off to slow starts in both sets but bounced back well, saving her best for last in a 7-5, 6-3 win to reach her third final of the 2026 Asian Swing. The Canadian won the title in Singapore in September before falling in the title match last week in Ningbo to Rybakina.
Despite her slow starts, the Lavalloise kept her opponent's serve under pressure for much of the match. She converted four of her six break-point chances, while saving three of five on her own delivery. Fernandez won 45 per cent of Rakhimova's total service points, including 59 per cent of second-serve points.
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It took time for the Canadian to get going in the semifinal clash. She fought off a break point in the opening game of the match but could not hang on the next time she stepped up to the line, dropping serve to go down 2-1. That acted as a bit of a wake-up call for Fernandez who wasted little time fighting back, reclaiming the break a couple of games later to draw level at three.
Having overcome that early hiccup, the Canadian started to turn the momentum in her favour. She was holding more easily as the set went along and applied more and more pressure to the Rakhimova serve. Fernandez was rewarded as the Uzbekistani served to send the set to a tiebreak at 5-6, coaxing a forehand into the net at 15-40 to break to seal the set.
Once again, the Lavalloise got off to a slow start in set two, this time dropping serve in the opening game. However, she turned things around even faster this time, creating a break-back point in the following game before actually securing the break with some bold attacking tennis to get back on serve at 2-2.
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The decisive moment of the set again came late. With Rakhimova serving at 3-4, 30-40, Fernandez went on offence, moving her opponent around the court well to eventually draw a soft lob that the Lavalloise smashed away to go up 5-3. She made no mistake serving out the match, booking her place in the final on her first match point with a swinging forehand volley.
Regardless of what happens in Sunday's final against No. 3 seed Diana Shnaider, Fernandez will return to the Top 20 on Monday and will pass Victoria Mboko to reclaim the title of Canadian No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
Dabrowski and partner Luisa Stefani will be looking to win their fourth consecutive title and remain undefeated since the US Open when they take on Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini on Sunday.
The Canadian-Brazilian duo have won 16 matches in a row, collecting three titles over that span. They have had a bit of a trickier time this week in Tokyo, escaping match tiebreaks in both the quarter and semifinals. They held off Hao Ching Chan and Miyu Kato in the quarter-finals before rallying from a set down on Saturday in the semis against Storm Hunter and Maya Joint, advancing to the final by taking the match tiebreak 10-3.
Feature Photo : WTA
