Canada's Leylah Fernandez booked her spot in the women's final of the Rothesay International, picking up an upset win over American Madison Keys on Friday in Eastbourne, England.
The Laval, Que., native scored a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the fourth-seeded Keys.
Fernandez, the world No. 30, will face Russia's Daria Kasatkina, who scored a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 semifinal victory over Italy's Jasmine Paolini, on Saturday.
The title match will be Fernandez's sixth career final but first on grass and first at the WTA 500 level or above since the 2021 U.S. Open.
Fernandez, who reached the Birmingham quarterfinals earlier this month, is pleased with her grass-court form ahead of Monday's Wimbledon.
Defeating Keys, ranked 12th and a two-time Eastbourne champion, only bolsters her confidence for the upcoming Grand Slam event.
"We've been working super hard the past couple of months [and] the past couple of years, so I am super happy with the results these past few weeks," said Fernandez.
"It's good preparation for Wimbledon, but we are just going to focus on [Saturday's] final."
WATCH | Fernandez defeats Keys in 3 sets in Eastbourne semifinals:
Kasatkina says 30th-ranked Fernandez's aggressive style is a natural fit for grass-court play.
"Grass suits Leylah very good," Kasatkina said. "She's in great form now, beat very good players this week. In the finals, everyone wants to win, so I'll just go and try to enjoy myself, and let's see how this final is going to turn out."
Meanwhile, Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe will play for the women's doubles title in Eastbourne on Saturday after outlasting Spain's Cristina Bucsa and Japan's Makoto Ninomiya 6-7 (2), 6-4, 10-8 in Friday's semifinal.
Dabrowski and Routliffe, a dual citizen who grew up in Caledon, Ont., meet Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the final.
Fernandez opens Wimbledon vs. Bronzetti
Also Friday, Fernandez and four of her teammates were part of the singles competition draw for Wimbledon.
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime, the top Canadian seed in singles play at No. 17, opens the men's draw against Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis, while Denis Shapovalov, of Richmond Hill, Ont., faces No. 19 Nicolas Jarry of Chile.
Fernandez, seeded 30th in the women's draw, opens against Italy's Lucia Bronzetti. Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., will meet Romania's Jaqueline Cristian in her first match, while 19-year-old Marina Stakusic, also from Mississauga, makes her Grand Slam debut against No. 27 Katerina Siniakova of Czechia.
Singles play begins Monday at the All England Club.
In doubles, scheduled to begin Wednesday, the second-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe meet Russia's Mirra Andreeva and Anastasia Potapova in the first round, while Fernandez and partner Ena Shibahara of Japan play China's Xinyu Jiang and Hanyu Guo.
In the men's draw, Shapovalov teams up with Kokkinakis to take on Skander Mansouri of Tunisia and Nicolas Mahut of France in Round 1.
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2024-06-28 19:38:33Z
CBMiWmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNiYy5jYS9zcG9ydHMvdGVubmlzL2xleWxhaC1mZXJuYW5kZXotcm90aGVzYXktaW50ZXJuYXRpb25hbC1qdW5lLTI4LTEuNzI0OTU0N9IBIGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNiYy5jYS9hbXAvMS43MjQ5NTQ3
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