Leylah Fernandez feels she’s making progress as she clinched her inaugural final appearance of the season with a straight-sets win against Anna Blinkova, securing her place in the Hong Kong Open. The Canadian will face the winner between Martina Trevisan and Katerina Siniakova in the final on Sunday. Additionally, Jessica Pegula secured her spot in the Korea Open final by defeating Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-3 in just 80 minutes.
Leylah Fernandez claimed her place in her first final of the season after overcoming Anna Blinkova to advance in the Hong Kong Open, while world No. 4 Jessica Pegula progressed to the Korea Open final.
Fernandez continued her fine form to beat the fifth seed Blinkova 6-2 7-5 and set up a final with either Martina Trevisan or Katerina Siniakova on Sunday.
Fernandez, who has dropped just two sets throughout the tournament, said: “This match was extremely tough.
“Anna, she’s a tremendous player, very powerful, and she’s coming in with a lot of confidence.
“The first set I played well, the second set she started making more balls and being very aggressive. I just tried to stay calm. I remembered my coach’s words to me: this is a battle, just enjoy it, have fun and put on a show for everyone.”
Fernandez has dropped to No. 60 in the world and is striving to win her first title since the Monterrey Open last year.
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But she believes her fortune is turning. The Canadian, 21, has already beaten top seed Victoria Azarenka, Mirra Andreeva and Linda Fruhvirtova so far in Hong Kong.
“I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m getting there,” Fernandez continued.
“Slowly but surely, every match I’ve been improving, being more offensive, and hitting more targets. The fans are loving it and in turn I’m loving the support from the fans. It’s encouraged me to keep going, to keep playing that way.
“Hopefully, soon I’ll get back to a level that I’m proud of. and I can say this is what I’ve been working for.”
Meanwhile, Pegula defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-3 in the semi-final of the Korea Open in 80 minutes.
The top seed in Seoul continues her bid to win her third title of the year and will face Yuan Yue on Sunday.
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“Being half-Korean and being able to be in the final here is something I can always say,” Pegula said. “Hopefully I can win, but nonetheless, it’s an honour, so I’m really happy.
“She was really hitting the ball super hard, super flat, and I was trying my best to dig out as many balls as I could and really make her earn points. I thought I played really well.”
The world No. 128 Yuan sealed her place in Sunday’s final with a 6-7 6-4 6-2 win over Marie Bouzkova.
In the Shanghai Masters, Hubert Hurkacz dominated Sebastian Korda 6-3 6-4 to reach the final.
Hurkacz did not face a break point as he wrapped up a comfortable win in 77 minutes.
“I’m just really happy with my performance today,” said Hurkacz.
“I was serving well, playing some good groundstrokes and definitely putting pressure on Sebi from the ground.”
Hurkacz’s reward will be a match against the winner of Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev.
