Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec reached her first career WTA Final on Saturday. According to Sam Ficcaro of the Sporting News, Fernandez was beaten by Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 in the final of the 2020 Mexico Open in Acapulco.
Over the week, Fernandez beat Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-1 in the first round, eighth seed Nao Hibino of Japan 6-3, 6-0 in the second round, Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals and Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals.
Fernandez entered the tournament as a qualifier. At the beginning of February, she had the biggest win of her tennis career as she beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the fifth ranked player of the world, in Fed Cup qualifying 6-2, 7-6 in Biel, Switzerland.
Currently ranked 126th in the world, Fernandez is just the latest Canadian to reach a final. In February, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal reached the final of the Rotterdam Open before losing to Gael Monfils of France and the Open 13 in Marseille before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. Also, Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, British Columbia made the final of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier before losing to Monfils. The world’s best players will now head to Indian Wells, California for two weeks of tennis in March.
