Nanchang
Fernandez on fire with 8th straight Asian win
Leylah Fernandez set a career-best mark with the eighth consecutive match win which took the Canadian into the semi-finals of the WTA event in Nanchang, China on Friday.
The 2021 US Open finalist, ranked 43rd after once touching the Top 20, did double duty on a day of rainy weather, knocking off back-to-back opponents in delayed matches.
She first took on Chinese qualifier You Xiaodi, winning 6-4, 6-1 in the second round. Four hours later she was back in action, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 6-4 to move into the final four for a second consecutive week.
Last Sunday, Fernandez ended a title drought approaching two years as she took Hong Kong trophy honours.
.”It was definitely hard, emotionally and mentally,” the winner said of her busy day on court.
“But I’ve been training in extremely tough conditions at home. My coach has pushed me hard mentally, emotionally and physically.
“I can get ready for these types of matches and these types of days.”
Fernandez called Xiaodi “very difficult to play against — one, she had the home crowd with her and two, her game is very different from a lot of the women.”
She said it was a contrast in styles against the experienced Sasnovich.
“She’s very offensive, very aggressive, very fast too. So I just tried to be faster than her and put one more ball in.”
The New York runner-up two years ago to Brit Emma Raducanu now bids for the Chinese final against Katerina Siniakova – a rematch of the Hong Kong final five days ago.
Katerina Siniakova saved three match points on her way to a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) marathon comeback win to claim victory on Sunday at the WTA Nanchang event in China, the fifth of her career.
Siniakova defeated fellow Czech Marie Bouzkova after three and a half hours on court; the epic was the first final of the season to pass the three-hour mark .
The 60th-ranked unseeded winner, losing finalist last week in Hong Kong, fought back from break down in the final two sets to earn a second trophy this season after Bad Homburg in June.
It was the first final between Czechs since 2021, when Barbora Krejcikova beat Tereza Martincova at home in Prague.
Siniakova saved a match point in the second set as her turnaround hit stride as the set went to a tiebreaker, which finally ended after eight set points and lasted for nearly one and three-quarter hours.
After levelling at a set apiece, Siniakova again fought off disaster in the third, trailing 5-3 and saving an additional pair of Bouzkova match points.
Siniakova came from a min-break down in the decider to pull away for the hard-fought win.
Katerina Siniakova brought the eight-match win streak of Leylah Fernandez to a halt on Saturday as she dropped the Canadian 7-5, 6-4 to reach the WTA final in Nanchang, China.
The win in two and three-quarter hours reversed the outcome of last weekend’s Hong Kong final won by Fernandez over her Czech rival.
Sunday’s Chinese final will wrap up the WTA’s annual Far East swing as the Tour returns briefly to Europe before the year-end finals in Mexico.
Siniakova will bid for the title against compatriot Marie Bouzkova, a winner over Diana Schnaider 7-6 (5), 6-2.
The last time a pair of Czechs played for a title was July, 2021, when Barbora Krejcikova beat Tereza Martincova in Prague.
“I was down pretty much the whole time in the first set and she was just hitting winners everywhere,” Bouzkova said.
“I just tried to stick to my game and be solid, and somehow I turned it around.”
Siniakova will aim for her second trophy of 2023 after winning Bad Homburg on summer grass in Germany.
“It was a really tough battle,” the winner said. “Last week [in Hong Kong] it was totally different conditions.
“Here it was a little bit slower; it suits me more because she plays really fast and does not step back. I’m really excited I won.”
Main photo:- Katerina Siniakova by Anne Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
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