Leylah Fernandez Reaches Tokyo Final as Canadian Tennis Shines

Leylah Fernandez bent but never broke in Tokyo, and by the end she had turned a tight semifinal into another statement win.

The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., battled past Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Japan Open final, grinding through one hour 54 minutes of stubborn resistance and long, bruising rallies.

The opening set set the tone. Fernandez probed, pressed, and finally cracked Rakhimova’s serve at the key moments, edging a tense frame 7-5. Once she had that in her pocket, the Canadian tightened her grip. The forehand grew heavier, the returns more aggressive, and the scoreboard began to tilt her way. A single break in the second set became the platform she needed, and she closed it out 6-3 to move within one win of the title.

Waiting for her on Sunday will be Diana Shnaider. The Russian left-hander came through her own test, defeating Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the other semifinal. Shnaider held her nerve in a tight second-set tiebreak, setting up a final that promises sharp angles, fierce baseline exchanges, and no shortage of emotion from either side of the net.

Canada will not be represented only in singles in Tokyo.

Gabriela Dabrowski has once again played her way into a big-stage doubles final, this time alongside Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani. The top seeds were pushed hard by Australian pair Storm Hunter and Maya Joint, dropping the first set before surging back for a 5-7, 6-4, 10-3 victory in their semifinal.

It was classic Dabrowski-Stefani: a slow start, then a sharp tactical shift. They raised their level on return, tightened up at the net, and turned the match around with a composed second set. In the match tiebreak, the No. 1 seeds took control early and never let Hunter and Joint breathe, racing away to seal their place in Sunday’s final.

There they will meet Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, who delivered a ruthless 6-4, 6-0 win over Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíková and Great Britain’s Olivia Nicholls. Errani’s doubles craft and Paolini’s all-court energy make them a dangerous pairing, and the clash with Dabrowski and Stefani has all the makings of a sharp, tactical battle.

While Fernandez and Dabrowski chase silverware in Japan, another Canadian is quietly stringing together a serious run in Mexico.

Bianca Andreescu, seeded No. 4 at the Querétaro Open, needed just 55 minutes on Friday to dismantle Spain’s Alicia Herrero Linana 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 event. The Mississauga, Ont., native barely gave her opponent a foothold, dictating from the first ball and cruising to her ninth straight victory.

Andreescu’s scoreline told the story: clean, ruthless, efficient. She was scheduled to face France’s Carole Monnet in the semifinals on Saturday, another step in a comeback stretch that is starting to look less like a feel-good return and more like a serious warning to the rest of the field.

From Tokyo to Querétaro, Canadian tennis is not just present on the draw sheets this week. It is shaping the business end of tournaments—and forcing everyone else to keep up.