In a thrilling display of resilience on hard courts, Alex de Minaur secured a hard-fought victory, saving three championship points to defeat No. 12 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with a final score of 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (3). the 26-year-old Australian, who was a runner-up in Washington in 2018, showcased his tenacity throughout the match.
Davidovich Fokina,meanwhile,fell to a 0-4 record in career finals,despite holding a commanding 5-2 lead in the third set and being just a single point away from victory on multiple occasions. This marked his second final this year where he lost multiple match points. Entering the week ranked No. 26, he is set to make his debut in the top 20 on Monday, remaining the highest-ranked male player without a title.On the women’s side, Leylah Fernandez navigated a challenging path to her title. Her journey included a grueling 2-hour,19-minute victory over the top-seeded Jessica Pegula,last year’s U.S. Open runner-up,in the second round. She followed this with a 2-hour, 20-minute win against Taylor Townsend in the quarterfinals, and a marathon 3-hour, 12-minute semifinal match that went to three tiebreakers against the No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion.Following her victories over Townsend and Rybakina, fernandez and her father, who also serves as her coach, opted for meals from Shake Shack. “We got burgers, hotdog, cheese fries – everything that an athlete shoudl not eat before a match, but it did the trick,” Fernandez commented on her post-Townsend match meal, attributing it to providing the necessary nutrients for recovery from cramps and preparation for the next round. After the demanding Rybakina match,both Fernandez and her father simultaneously expressed a craving for burgers,which became a recurring part of her diet throughout the week.
This strategy proved successful, marking Fernandez’s frist title since her win at the Hong Kong Open in October 2023. Notably, she arrived in Washington with a losing record for the season and had not won more than two matches at a single tournament as November of the previous year.
“I have gone through so many different challenges this week. It just has made me stronger, in a way, that if I can get through this week – through the cramps, through the long matches, through the heat, the humidity – I can get through anything,” fernandez reflected.She expressed gratitude for the opportunity to push herself both physically and mentally, believing it will benefit her in future tournaments.
In the final against Anna kalinskaya, ranked 48th and who had not dropped a set prior to Sunday, Fernandez saved the only break point she faced while converting four of her own. A key factor in her win was her dominance on Kalinskaya’s second serve, winning 10 out of 12 points. Kalinskaya, who is 0-3 in tour finals, concluded the match with 24 unforced errors and only nine winners.
“Amazing fight this week,” Kalinskaya acknowledged to Fernandez. “You truly deserve it.”
