Latest news with #hardcourt
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Leylah Fernandez dominates DC Open final vs. Anna Kalinskaya
The post Leylah Fernandez dominates DC Open final vs. Anna Kalinskaya appeared first on ClutchPoints. The North American hardcourt swing is officially underway as tennis pros get ready for the U.S. Open in New York at the endgame of August. Canadian Leylah Fernandez got her summer swing started off with a blast, dominating Anna Kalinskaya in the final of the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Sunday for her first title of the 2025 season. Fernandez was the better player right from the very start of the championship match, taking advantage of a nervous Kalinskaya who was looking for her first career title. In the end, Fernandez ran away with a 6-1 6-2 victory in just over one hour. Fernandez's run to the title in Washington D.C. was a very impressive one, despite it coming at a WTA 500 tournament without some of the best players in the sport. She knocked out up-and-coming Australian Maya Joint in the first round before winning a brutal three-setter against top seed Jessica Pegula in the Round of 16. The Canadian almost saw her efforts end in the quarterfinals, where she battled through extreme heat and cramps to beat American Taylor Townsend in two tight sets. In the semifinals, she took down 2022 Wimbledon champion and No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina in one of the matches of the year, lasting three hours and 16 minutes. It would have been understandable if Fernandez didn't have much left in the tank for the final after that epic semifinal against Rybakina, but she played her best match of the week to cap off the stellar run. This is her fourth career title and first since 2023 in Hong Kong. This victory should give the 22-year old a lot of momentum heading into one of her favorite parts of the calendar. On Tuesday, she will get her quest for a WTA 1000 title underway in front of her home fans in Montreal before the final U.S. Open tune-up in Cincinnati the following week. Fernandez already should take plenty of confidence into New York after her Cinderella run to the final there in 2021, where she became a household name before losing to Emma Raducanu in the championship match. This win in Washington D.C. will only add to those good vibes as she gets into the heart of the summer hardcourt swing. Related: Coco Gauff preps for Canadian Open resurgence after Wimbledon upset Related: Venus Williams' DC Open comeback attempt stalls in 2nd round
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Emma Raducanu vs Peyton Stearns: Score and latest Canadian Open updates
Good evening and welcome to third-round coverage of Emma Raducanu versus Peyton Stearns at the Canadian Open. Raducanu is enjoying a good North American hard-court swing so far following her semi-final showing in Washington last week. The British No 1 won three matches in the American capital without dropping a set, before succumbing to eventual runner-up Anna Kalinskaya. The world No 33 is playing in Montreal for only the second time in her career. Her first appearance at the WTA 1000 event, in 2022, ended in defeat to Italian Camila Giorgi in the second round – the Briton who was then ranked 10 in the world received a first-round bye as the ninth seed. This year, an unseeded Raducanu started her campaign in the first round where she saw off good friend Elena-Gabriela Ruse in straight sets – 6-2, 6-4. Afterwards, the Briton spoke about how pleased she was to secure the win. 'I'm happy to have come through that. I know Elena and she's a very good friend of mine. It's very difficult to play someone that you're close to,' said the 22-year-old during her on-court interview. 'I'm really proud of how I put that to one side for the match and also backed up a good week last week in DC and performed well today.' Stearns, the American world No 37 who is the 32nd seed in Montreal, is searching for her first win on the North American hard courts following a first-round exit at the Citi Open last week. Stearns, 23, fell to 45-year-old seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams in straight sets. Raducanu leads the head-to-head 2-0 coming into this one. Those two matches were both played on hard courts last year, first in DC where Raducanu won 7-6, 6-2 and in Korea where the Briton secured victory in two tie-break sets.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Taylor Fritz starts hard-court circuit with a win at the DC Open. Venus Williams loses in doubles
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top-seeded Taylor Fritz got his North American hard-court season off to a strong start by hitting 11 aces and saving the only break point he faced in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Aleksandar Vukic at the DC Open on Wednesday. Fritz is coming off a semifinal run on the grass of Wimbledon. He will be trying to replicate last year's strong showing in this portion of the season, when he reached his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open. After getting a first-round bye, Fritz now will play in the third round against Matteo Arnaldi, who eliminated No. 16 Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 7-5. Seeded men advancing included No. 7 Alex de Minaur, No. 8 Daniil Medvedev and No. 11 Jiri Lehecka, but No. 10 Alexei Popyrin was defeated by qualifier Wu Yibing 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. Venus Williams' run in doubles with partner Hailey Baptiste ended in the second round with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 loss in a champion's tiebreaker to second-seeded Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai. The 45-year-old Williams is competing at her first tournament in more than a year — and first in doubles since 2022 — and she and Baptiste won their first-round match on Monday. Williams will play her second-round singles match Thursday against Magdalena Frech. On Tuesday, Williams became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match, beating Payton Stearns — who is 23 — in straight sets. In women's singles play Wednesday, unseeded Anna Kalinskaya eliminated No. 8 seed Magda Linette 6-4, 6-0. ___ AP tennis: The Associated Press
CBC
23-07-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Gabriel Diallo to face 4th seed Ben Shelton in Citi Open 3rd round after straight-sets win
Social Sharing Montreal's Gabriel Diallo advanced to the third round of the Citi Open hard-court tennis tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Hungary's Fabian Marozsan on Tuesday in Washington. Diallo, who had a first-round bye as the 15th seed in Washington, had 10 aces and broke Marozsan twice on seven chances. Marozsan, who committed six double faults, failed to convert the only chance he had to break Diallo's serve. Diallo improved to 2-0 against Marozsan, with his other win coming earlier this year in a Davis Cup qualifier. Diallo will play on Thursday against the fourth-seeded Ben Shelton, who beat wild card Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American matchup on Tuesday. Diallo, who entered the tournament with a career-high world ranking of No. 35, is seeded 30th at the men's National Bank Open in Toronto. The Masters-level event starts with qualifying on Saturday. WATCH | Diallo edged by No. 5 Fritz in Wimbledon 2nd round: Montreal's Gabriel Diallo drops 5-set heartbreaker at Wimbledon 21 days ago The Canadian could not get past American Taylor Fritz in a back-and-forth five-set marathon match.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Zverev works with tennis great Nadal ahead of hard court season
Alexander Zverev feels that working with tennis legend Rafael Nadal and his uncle Toni has given him a boost for the upcoming hard court tournaments and the US Open. "It very beautiful, very good week. Obviously with a lot of help from Toni and from Rafa as well" Zverev said in a video posted on Tuesday on X by the Rafael Nadal Academy, where he has been training. "It was fantastic seeing the two of them again. I enjoyed my time, I'm ready to go to the United States now," he said. After a shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon last month, Zverev is the top favourite at the Canadian Open, which starts on Sunday, after Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic pulled out of the competition. The US Open, which is the final Grand Slam of the year, starts on August 24.
