Leylah Fernandez Upsets Top Seed in Thrilling Three-Set Match – Career-Best Victory Ignites Title Hopes

Canadian sensation Leylah Fernandez continues her midsummer surge at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, charging into Saturday’s semifinals after a gutsy 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over American left-hander Taylor Townsend that briefly threatened to slip away when the 22-year-old grabbed at her right hip late in the second set.​ The Montreal native shook off the scare with trademark grit, reeling off five of the last six points in the tiebreak to book her first WTA semifinal of the 2025 season and her deepest run on U.S. soil since her fairy-tale march to the 2021 US Open final. Friday’s win also propelled Fernandez back into the live Top 30, keeping Olympic qualification and a U.S. Open seeding firmly in play. Standing between the Canadian and a fourth career tour final is No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion whose flat baseline power has produced a tour-leading 38 match wins this year. The pair have split two previous meetings, but Fernandez stunned the Kazakh on slow Miami hard courts in March, a result Rybakina called “one of the toughest losses of my season”. Saturday’s D.C. clash promises an intriguing stylistic contrast: Fernandez’s lefty angles, lightning-quick court coverage and net rushes against Rybakina’s first-strike aggression. Adding extra spice, Emma Raducanu lurks in the opposite half of the draw after dispatching Madison Keys earlier on Friday. If both young stars advance, Washington would stage their long-awaited first rematch since the 2021 US Open final that captivated the sports world. Fernandez insists she is “laser-focused on Elena first,” but social media is already buzzing about a potential Sunday showdown that could reignite one of tennis’s freshest rivalries. Key to Fernandez’s recent form has been an uptick in first-serve percentage—72 percent across her three D.C. matches—paired with improved forehand depth that has forced opponents off the baseline. Coach (and father) Jorge Fernandez revealed they spent the grass-court swing rebuilding Leylah’s serve toss to reduce shoulder strain after a minor rotator-cuff flare-up in May. The tweaks are paying dividends: she has faced only five break points all tournament and saved four of them. Off-court, the 5-foot-6 dynamo continues to broaden her brand appeal. Her spring campaign with apparel partner lululemon generated a 28 percent spike in the company’s tennis-category sales according to internal estimates, while a playful “DM for a date in Montréal” TikTok post—meant to promote next month’s National Bank Open—went viral with 3.1 million views in 24 hours. Yet Fernandez says Washington is “strictly business,” noting her goal this summer is to vault back into the WTA’s Top 20 before returning home to Canada. Saturday’s night-session ticket at Rock Creek Park sold out within minutes of Fernandez’s quarterfinal win, underscoring her drawing power in a market long dominated by American names. Should she topple Rybakina, the Canadian would contest her first 500-level final and set up either the dream Raducanu rematch or a battle with fast-rising Dane Clara Tauson. From injury worries to trending on X and TikTok, Leylah Fernandez has once again made Washington the epicenter of tennis conversation. One more fearless performance, and the capital could witness the next chapter in her remarkable young career.