Leylah Fernandez is thisclose to a first Grand Slam title…
The 20-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian professional tennis player and her women’s doubles partner Taylor Townsend, the No. 10 sends at the French Open, needed only 64 minutes to book their place in a first Grand Slam final together, defeating No. 2 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 6-0, 6-4 at Roland Garros.
For Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up in singles, the result marks her first Grand Slam final in doubles.
Townsend advances to her second major final, having been runner-up alongside Caty McNally at last year’s US Open to Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova. French Open
They will face unseeded Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu for the title, after they upset No. 6 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez in the other semifinal, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
They will face unseeded Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu for the title, after they upset No. 6 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez in the other semifinal, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
The Canadian-American duo first teamed up at Indian Wells in March, and their record together now stands at 14-4.
The defeat of Gauff and Pegula reverses the result of the Miami final, which the all-American team won 7-6 (6), 6-2.
Townsend also exacted a measure of revenge for last year’s Roland Garros semifinals, which – partnered with Madison Keys — she lost 6-4, 7-6(4) to Gauff and Pegula.
“I’m just honestly so proud of how we were able to play and perform,” Townsend said afterwards. “I told Leylah after the match, ‘This is what we have been building towards over the past couple of months.’ From where we started as a team and just figuring each other out to now, understanding each other so well and being able to play such great, consistent tennis/
“Especially I’m really proud of how we were able to kind of put our last result behind us. We lost to Jess and Coco in the finals in Miami, and we were able to learn from it, detach from the result, and then just understand and take what we learned in that match and apply it into this one. I’m so proud of like how we were able to stay focused and committed to what we were doing on our side of the net and not worry about what they were doing.
“I’m so proud, but, you know, work is not done. We’ve still got one more. You know, this match, I’m sure for Leylah, as well, this match has made me even more hungry to hold the winning trophy.”