Tennis-Kalinskaya upsets Raducanu, Fernandez battles into Washington Open final
(Reuters) -Anna Kalinskaya outclassed Britain's Emma Raducanu 6–4 6–3 at the Washington Open on Saturday to advance to the final, where she will face Leylah Fernandez.
After a strong start from both players, Kalinskaya secured the first break to lead 5–4 and served out the opening set, handing Raducanu her first dropped set of the tournament.
The two exchanged early breaks in the second set before the Russian pulled ahead once more, taking a lead that proved decisive and breaking again to seal the win.
Having denied fans a rematch of the 2021 U.S. Open final between Raducanu and Fernandez, Kalinskaya will now aim to capture her first WTA 500 title in Sunday's final.
"It was an interesting match. It's nice to play against Emma," world number 48 Kalinskaya said. "I'm proud of myself. I stayed aggressive and stuck to my plan."
Fernandez "is such a fighter, she plays incredibly and never gives up. I played a tough battle against her a while ago. Tomorrow, I think it's going to be the same, and I'm excited".
Earlier, Fernandez came from a set down to defeat third seed Elena Rybakina 6–7(2) 7–6(3) 7–6(3) in a marathon battle marked by dominant serving from both players.
Rybakina edged a tight first set, gaining the upper hand in the tiebreak with two clutch return winners.
Fernandez dropped her serve in the opening game of the second set, but Rybakina was unable to serve out the match at 5–4, allowing the Canadian to rally and level the contest by taking the second tiebreak.
As in the opener, neither player dropped serve in the third set, but Fernandez grew in confidence and secured victory in three hours and 12 minutes to reach her first final of the season.
On the men's side, Frenchman Corentin Moutet will face Australian Alex de Minaur in the first semifinal of the ATP 500 tournament, followed by home favourite Ben Shelton taking on Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by William Mallard)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Soccer-Spain search for answers after coming up short at Women's Euros
Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Final - England v Spain - St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland - July 27, 2025 Spain's Aitana Bonmati with teammates look dejected after the match REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo (Reuters) -Entering the tournaments as favourites, many expected Spain to add the Women's Euro crown to their world and Nations League titles, but an agonising loss to England in a penalty shootout on Sunday has left them searching for answers after dominating the game. Coming into the final on the back of five straight victories, Spain seemed to be able to find the solution to every problem they were confronted with, but they could not find a way to break the English resolve as the game finished 1-1 after extra time, eventually losing 3-1 on penalties. Such was Spain's dominance in most of their matches at the Euros that it usually seemed like only a matter of time before they would find a way through, and they scored after 25 minutes against England. Once Alessia Russo equalised, however, the Spaniards stuttered until extra time where they again took over, without ever finding the goal they needed to kill the game off. "England were a team who contested a lot of second balls and we weren't winning them, which caused us to struggle a bit," Spain coach Montse Tome said. "During extra time we managed to get the ball again and create attacking chances, but it wasn't enough to avoid penalties." Warning signs could be seen in Spain's group games, where they conceded sloppy goals to Belgium and Italy, and through they scored 14 times in their three matches, their attack looked ponderous for long spells as they controlled possession without really threatening. They beat hosts Switzerland in the last eight without ever really getting going, and it took a 113th-minute goal from Aitana Bonmati to get them past Germany in the semi-final in a victory that was comfortable without being convincing. The five teams Spain met in the run-up set the template for England in the final as they defended the space around their penalty area fiercely, living on the margins and hitting the Spaniards on the break when they could. Faced with that aggressive English defence, Spain changed the point of attack repeatedly but all too often they found themselves headed down blind alleys, falling into the trap of passing the ball among themselves for the sake of it. "We had some very good moments but just couldn't finish the chances," Spain captain Irene Paredes said. "England were happy just to reach penalties but, in the shootout, we didn't perform well. To be a champion you need some luck, and I believe they had it." However, England had more than luck. In a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final, which they lost 1-0, Englandhad a never-say-die attitude the Spaniards would do well to emulate if they want to be champions of Europe. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor, Ed Osmond)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Piastri and Norris racing like champions in F1 title battle
Formula One F1 - Belgian Grand Prix - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium - July 27, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren's Lando Norris in action during the race REUTERS/Manon Cruz SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (Reuters) -McLaren boss Andrea Stella says teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are racing like champions and the Formula One title will probably be decided by fine margins and individual brilliance. The pair are 16 points apart in a two-horse race, with Australian Piastri leading McLaren's sixth one-two of the season in Belgium on Sunday and taking his sixth win of the campaign. Red Bull's Max Verstappen is third but 81 points behind with his hopes of a fifth successive title fast receding. There are 11 races left and the intra-team rivalry will be the major focus with McLaren set to retain the constructors' crown with ease as they now a massive 268 points clear of second-placed Ferrari. Norris won in Britain after Piastri was penalised for braking erratically behind the safety car but the Australian triumphed at Spa by slipstreaming past from second on the grid. "There is very, very little between our two drivers and this is because the two drivers are racing at a very, very high level," Stella told reporters. "I think the difference will be made by the accuracy, the precision, the quality of the execution," added the Italian, who worked with champions at Ferrari and said Piastri and Norris were both operating at that level. At Spa, the regular grid lineup was replaced by a rolling start in wet conditions after four laps behind the safety car, with Norris finding pole position was no real advantage once the race got going. Piastri had discovered the same during the Saturday sprint, when Verstappen won from second on the grid after seizing the lead on the opening lap. "We saw in Silverstone that an issue, a sporting issue for Oscar, during the safety car restart and the consequent penalty cost him the race," said Stella. "Here we saw that, somehow related to the circuit characteristic, it would have been very difficult for Lando to keep the position, starting first at the safety car restart." Stella discounted a battery problem that appeared to be an issue initially, saying a slight anomaly had occurred on both cars and Norris should not have been any worse off. "It would have always been very difficult for Lando to keep the position starting first at the safety car restart, but at the same time I think Lando didn't help himself by not having a great gap...," he said. "So I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference." Piastri was not unhappy after qualifying second, observing that Spa was probably the best place not to have the best lap and planning his next move already. "The move through Eau Rouge, I knew it was going to be by far my best opportunity to try and win the race. I'd been thinking about it for a while, put it that way," said the Australian. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Baseball-Japan's Suzuki paved way for generation of players
Jul 27, 2025; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki makes his acceptance speech during the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Clark Sports Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images (Reuters) -Ichiro Suzuki, a remarkable hitter with dazzling speed and arm strength, not only broke stereotypes during a career played across two continents but also blazed a trail for a generation of Japanese-born players in Major League Baseball. Suzuki, who proved his abilities despite starting his MLB journey at a relatively advanced age, became the first Japanese-born player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, on Sunday. Arriving from the Orix BlueWave of the Pacific League in Nippon Professional Baseball as a 27-year-old major league rookie with the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro wasted no time showing that his talent and determination translated on MLB diamonds. The slender Ichiro, with an unorthodox high leg kick to time his swing in the batter's box, turned routine ground balls into short infield singles with his speed down the line and made baserunners cautious with his strong arm in right field. Suzuki announced himself with an electric 2001 season in which he hit .350 to win the batting title with a rookie record 242 hits while swiping a league-leading 56 bases in sweeping Rookie of the Year and American League MVP honors. The batting title/stolen base double had last been achieved in 1949 by fabled trailblazer Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier as MLB's first African American player. Suzuki, who had won seven batting titles in a row and three straight Pacific League MVP awards in Japan, was just getting warmed up in the majors and quickly became a household name in Seattle. Following a strict daily practice routine and stretching regimen, Suzuki was a model of high level consistency during a 19-year MLB career that also included stops with the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins. He went on to post a record 10 consecutive seasons of at least 200 hits, reaching his zenith in 2004 when he stroked 262 hits to break an 84-year-old major league record set by George Sisler as he claimed another batting title with a .372 average. By the time he retired, Suzuki was a 10-times MLB All-Star who held the record for the most hits by a professional baseball player, including his time in Japan, with 4,367. Including his 1,278 hits for Orix in Japan, the claim has been made that with his major league hits total, Ichiro has surpassed the late Pete Rose, who is MLB's career hits leader with 4,256. "He's a guy who comes around once in a lifetime," Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, who was a teammate of Suzuki's when the Japanese outfielder played with the Yankees from 2012 to 2014, once said. "No one's ever seen anybody like him. And to be quite honest, we probably won't see anybody like him again." Suzuki, who during his career smashed the perception that only Japanese pitchers were good enough to excel in MLB, not only inspired a generation of players but also prompted clubs to more aggressively scout and sign hitters from Japan. His rise to stardom while playing in MLB opened the door for fellow Japanese hitters like Hideki Matsuyama while current Los Angeles Dodgers two-way standout Shohei Ohtani has also referenced him as an inspiration. "Growing up, Ichiro was for me the way that I think some kids, some people, look at me today," Ohtani told GQ magazine in 2023. "Like I'm a different species. Larger than life. He was a superstar in Japan. He had this charisma about him." (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
