Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, battled the 2021 US Open finalist and the stifling heat in the nation’s capital for a place in the final. The Mubadala Citi DC Open is a 500-level joint event on the ATP and WTA tours. Rybakina, the number three seed, reached a career-high ranking of #3 but has since fallen out of the top ten. Currently ranked 12th, the twenty-six-year-old from Kazakhstan was seeking her second final of the season (Strasbourg).
Leylah Fernandez, the twenty-two-year-old southpaw from Canada, reached a career high of #13 in 2022 and is currently ranked #36. En route to the semis, she dispatched 2-time 2025 champion Maya Joint and world #4 Jessica Pegula, 7-5 in the third. With three career titles, she pursued her seventh final and first at this level. This was their third tour-level meeting, having split two last season on hardcourts.
Rybakina won the toss and elected to serve. The 3rd seed opened and closed with forehand winners and held to 15, while Fernandez struck two winners and held at love.
Rybakina opened the third with a colossal cross-court forehand and held at love for 2-1 while Fernandez struck an ace and held at love for parity. The former Wimbledon champion gifted her first double fault, but with two well-struck serves, including an ace out wide, she held to 30 for 3-2. The young Canadian hit two winners, including her second ace, and held easily to 15 to level.
Rybakina opened the seventh with her second double fault and faced two deuce points, but with three outstanding winners, held for 4-3. Fernandez serving with new balls made 4/4 first serves and held at love to level while Rybakina made 3/4 first serves and hit two consecutive forehand winners to hold at love for 5-4.
Fernandez serving to stay in the set reached 40-15 with her third ace but faced deuce before leveling at five. Rybakina made 3/4 first serves and, with a winning lob and an unreturnable serve, held at love for 6-5.
Fernandez served to stay in the set and force the breaker. With both holding easily and playing first strike tennis, earning a break point was challenging. The southpaw made 5/5 first serves and held easily to 15 to level at six. Rybakina upped the ante in the breaker, striking three consecutive winners, including two off the return, and clinched it 7-2.
Fernandez served first in the second and with three unforced errors, including a double fault, dumped serve while Rybakina held easily to 15 to consolidate the break. The world #36 struck three winners, four errors, and faced two deuce points and a break point, yet held for 1-2 when Rybakina’s return went wide.
The world #12 donated another double fault and faced a break point and deuce, but with two additional aces held for 3-1. Fernandez faced a triple break point yet held with an ace out wide and a fantastic forehand down the line.
Rybakina, despite her inability to break from that position, maintained her focus with two aces, the last on game point to lead 4-2. Fernandez made 4/6 first serves, including an ace up the tee, and held to 30 for 3-4.
Rybakina, just two games from the final, gifted a double fault and faced three deuce and two break points, yet held behind five winners, including three additional aces. Fernandez serving to stay in the match was two points from the locker room, but managed to hold with a winning forehand swing volley and an errant lob from her opponent. Rybakina serving for the match began to unravel. She opened with a double fault and though she hit an ace up the tee, dropped serve following three forehand errors.
Level at five, Fernandez was more pumped than usual. Although she missed 4/5 first serves, she held easily to 15 with a spectacular inside-out forehand. It was Rybakina’s turn to level and force the tiebreak. She led 40-15 following an ace up the tee and secured the game with a marvelous forehand down the line.
Fernandez quickly raced to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak as Rybakina played tentatively. While she hit three consecutive winners, including two aces for 3-5, an unfortunate double fault cost her the set.
The former world #3 appeared to melt under the sizzling summer sun. The sense of urgency she demonstrated for a set and a half had deserted her. Fernandez took full advantage and, with the DC crowd firmly in her corner, proceeded to make her mark in the decider.
Rybakina served first in the third and with her twelfth ace, held easily to 15 while Fernandez leveled with her sixth ace. Rybakina, riding the ebbs and flows of her power game, struck three consecutive winners, including an ace up the tee and held at love for 2-1, while Fernandez hit two additional aces and held to 30 for 2-2.
Rybakina hit three winners, including two more aces, and held to 30 for 3-2 while Fernandez hit her ninth ace and held to 15 for parity. Rybakina opened the seventh with a blistering backhand crosscourt and held to 30 after Fernandez mishit the return.
The Montreal native donated three errors and faced deuce but held with two winners, including her tenth ace. Though neither grunted nor shouted words of encouragement, the mounting pressure was deafening. In the ninth game, Rybakina teetered. Although she struck two additional aces, she committed four unforced errors and faced two deuce points before holding for 5-4 with two consecutive well-struck serves.
Fernandez serving to stay in the match made 3/4 first serves and a statement with a love hold! Rybakina, increasingly flat and dejected, missed 4/6 first serves yet held to 30 for 6-5. Once again, the Canadian served to stay in the match and force the breaker.
The twenty-two-year-old rose to the occasion, striking three winners, including two additional aces to level at six. The first to seven with a two-point advantage would play for the trophy on Sunday.
What at first appeared to be a straightforward straight sets victory for the third seed was anything but. Fernandez raced to a 4-0 lead and though Rybakina clawed back to 3-5, the Canadian would not be denied. The 2021 US Open finalist extracted two additional forehand errors, the last to secure the breaker, set, and match!
After 3 ¼ hours, Leylah Fernandez had reached her seventh career final and first at the 500 level. The Canadian was imperious on serve, striking 12 aces to 3 double faults and winning 72% of first and an impressive 66% of second serve points. She saved 4/5 break points while converting 1/6. While unable to make inroads on the Kazak’s first serve, she won an outstanding 54% of second serve return points.
Awaiting in the final is Anna Kalinskaya. Currently ranked #48, the twenty-six-year-old Russian reached a career-high of #11 last season. Although she has yet to win a tour-level title, she made two finals in 2024, including the WTA 1000 event in Dubai.
This will be their second tour-level meeting since Fernandez prevailed in a tight three-setter on hardcourt in Guadalajara in 2021.
