The China Mail - Fernandez dominates Kalinskaya to win DC Open

The 22-year-old bagged the first WTA 500 victory of her career and her first title since 2023 to win 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour.

The win completed a fairytale week for Fernandez, the 2021 US Open finalist who had beaten top seed Jessica Pegula and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina on her way to the fourth title of her career.

Fernandez got off to a blistering start, dominating Kalinskaya's serve to take the opening set in just 30 minutes.

After three holds left Fernandez 2-1 up, the breakthrough came in the fourth game with Kalinskaya’s serve looking increasingly vulnerable.

The Russian was soon in trouble at 15-40 down, and then double-faulted to hand Fernandez the break and a 3-1 lead.

Fernandez was having no such difficulty on serve and held comfortably for a 4-1 lead before going on to attack Kalinskaya's serve in the sixth game.

The Canadian held two break points at 15-40 and duly converted the second for a 5-1 lead, lasering a backhand return to leave Kalinskaya rooted to the spot.

A delicate drop shot at the net gave Fernandez the set in the next game.

The second set mirrored the first, with Fernandez grabbing an early break to seize the initiative at 2-1 before breaking again soon afterwards for a 4-1 lead.

The next two games went with serve but Fernandez made no mistake when serving for the match, converting the second of two match points.

D.Wang--ThChM