While Leylah Annie Fernandez got her hands on her first trophy of the year in Singapore, Denis Shapovalov is on his way to doing the same in Chengdu.
Fernandez earned her sixth-career WTA title at the Singapore Tennis Open, defeating Talia Gibson 7-5, 6-0 in Sunday’s final. It was the second time that the 24-year-old from Laval was triumphant at a 500-level event, with her first coming in Washington last season.
The Canadian No. 2 had to battle to clinch the opening set. Fernandez took the edge thanks to a break in the third game, then backed it up to go 3-1 in front. Serving at 3-2, the Lavalloise was broken in back-to-back service games, but luckily for her, she was able to score a break of her own in between as the first was level at 4-4.
Fernandez had to hold her nerve late in the opener, fighting off a set point on serve at 4-5, 30-40, before ultimately extending the set. The now world No. 26 piled the pressure in the ensuing game, converting her fourth break point to get the chance to serve out the first.
From 6-5, 15-40, Fernandez won four points on the bounce to avoid a tiebreaker and seal the set in just over an hour.
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The second took half the time for the Canadian, though. Fernandez converted three of six break points as she went out to a commanding 5-0 lead. On her delivery, the Lavalloise went up 30-love in every service game and comfortably held on each occasion. When serving for the match, Fernandez held at love to secure the Singapore title.
“I want to thank my coaches here, my coaches back home, my family who are back home, my team members who are travelling around the world to help my sister,” the Canadian said in her post-match speech. “Thank you so much for all the hard work, the sacrifices, the day in and day out belief in me. It truly means a lot.”
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Fernandez will now eye a biggest-career title at the WTA 1000 in Beijing, which begins next week.
Shapovalov Completes Comeback Against Mannarino in Chengdu Quarters
Shapovalov had a tougher time getting through his Sunday, but the 27-year-old from Richmond Hill managed to come back from a set down to defeat Adrian Mannarino 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2 and reach the Chengdu Open semifinals.
Mannarino was cruising on serve in the first set. The French No. 8 only conceded four points behind his delivery and fired three of his six points on the night. Although Shapovalov had to battle through deuce in his opening service game, that was his only real test on serve as the set was destined for a tiebreaker.
The Canadian scored the early mini-break to lead 2-0 but couldn’t hold onto the advantage for the rest of the way. Shapovalov later saved set point at 5-6, but Mannarino soon had another opportunity to close out the opener, this time on his delivery at 7-6. An unfortunate Shapovalov slip in the long rally led to the Canuck dropping the opener.
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The match started to move in favour of Shapovalov in the second, though. The Richmond Hillian broke right out of the gates and backed up the loss of serve to lead 2-0, after first saving two break points in a nearly eight-minute service game.
Life on serve still wasn’t easy for Shapovalov later in the set. The world No. 50 had to save another break point in the sixth game and hold his nerve at 4-3, 30-all, to maintain his advantage.
Shapovalov then put the pressure on Mannarino to keep the set alive at 3-5, forcing the Frenchman to fend off set point. However, after the Canadian won a 40-shot rally at deuce three, he had a second chance to send the match to a decider and converted on this occasion.
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In the third set, Mannarino was the one who nearly took the early edge with break point at 30-40 in the opening game. That missed chance proved costly as Shapovalov took over late in the set. The Canadian broke on the second try from 2-3, love-40, and consolidated to go one-game away from the semifinals. At 2-5, 30-all, back-to-back unforced errors sank Mannarino, sending Shapovalov through to his third semifinal of the year.
The Canuck will meet former world No. 6 Hubert Hurkacz on Monday for a spot in the final.
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
