Leylah Fernandez put on a commanding display to steamroll Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-2 and capture the WTA Tour’s DC Open title in Washington on Sunday.
At just 22, Fernandez secured her first WTA 500 trophy and her first title since 2023, wrapping up the match in just over an hour. This victory capped a stellar week for the Canadian, the 2021 US Open finalist, who toppled top seed Jessica Pegula and former Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina en route to her fourth career title.
Fernandez came out firing, quickly dismantling Kalinskaya’s serve to take the opening set in just 30 minutes. After holding serve to go 2-1 up, she pounced in the fourth game, exploiting cracks in Kalinskaya’s serve to break and surge ahead 3-1.
With her own serve rock solid, Fernandez comfortably held for 4-1 before pressuring Kalinskaya’s serve again at 15-40 in the sixth game, converting the second break point with a sharp backhand return. A crafty drop shot sealed the first set.
The second set followed the same script, with Fernandez grabbing an early break to lead 2-1, then breaking again to extend her advantage to 4-1. Both players held serve in the next games, but Fernandez closed out the match confidently on her second match point.
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