Leylah Fernandez Wins 4th Career Title at Mubadala Citi DC Open
The Canadian defeated top-seed Jessica Pegula and No. 3-seed Elena Rybakina en route to first
WTA 500 title
[TORONTO, ON] July 27, 2025 – On Sunday, Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC) claimed her fourth career WTA title, defeating Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-2 in the Mubadala Citi DC Open final. This marks her first title since the Hong Kong Tennis Open in 2023, and the first WTA 500-level crown of her career.
Fernandez, 22, reached her last final in 2024 at the WTA 250 tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, where she lost to Australia’s Daria Kasatkina, the No. 6 seed. This week, the Canadian managed to go one further, defeating top-seed Jessica Pegula, of the United States, and third-seed Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, as well as Maya Joint, of Australia, and Taylor Townsend, of the United States, before beating world No. 39 Kalinskaya in the championship match.
Kalinskaya, who was playing in her fourth WTA final, qualified for the championship match after defeating Kamila Rakhimova, Magda Linette, of Poland, No. 4-seed Clara Tauson, of Denmark, and Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain. Fernandez and Kalinskaya had faced each other once before, with the Canadian narrowly winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
In today’s match, the first set went the way of Fernandez, who got off to a flying start, breaking Kalinskaya’s serve in the fourth and sixth games to take the opener in less than 30 minutes. The second set followed a similar pattern, with the 22-year-old breaking Kalinskaya in the third and fifth games, maintaining the momentum right up to match point in the eighth game.
Fernandez was terrific in the service department, keeping 71 per cent of first serves in play and winning 75 per cent of those points. She was also excellent on pressure points, saving both break points she faced and converting on four of six break points.
“I want to dedicate this trophy to my mom, my older sister, and to my fitness trainer, Abdul Sillah,”Fernandez said during her on-court speech. “You guys have been fighting all year round and still are fighting, so thank you so much for never giving up on me, and don’t give up on yourselves. This trophy is for you guys.”
Fernandez will climb to No. 24 when the rankings update on Monday as she looks to get things underway in her home tournament, the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal.
