OSAKA, Japan — The final of the WTA’s Japan Open is set, and the last seeded player standing, Leylah Fernandez, has made her way through by overcoming the experienced Sorana Cîrstea with a scoreline of 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
In a tense deciding set, Fernandez seized the moment at 4-4 by breaking Cîrstea’s serve, subsequently securing her own serve to clinch her victory.
The Canadian, seeded fourth, will compete against either Jaqueline Cristian or the 18-year-old qualifier, Tereza Valentova, who faced off in their semifinal later that day.
Cristian reached the semifinals after top seed Naomi Osaka withdrew due to a left leg injury on Friday, granting the Romanian a walkover in the quarterfinals.
A finalist at the 2021 U.S. Open, Fernandez is now heading to her eighth career final. This season, her only semifinal appearance was at the WTA 500 D.C. Open, where she triumphed over Anna Kalinskaya to claim her fourth WTA singles title.
Recently, Fernandez faced a setback, losing in three sets to Coco Gauff in the second round of the China Open at the end of September.
