Hong Kong Open: Diana Shnaider lives up to top seed billing, sweeps Leylah Fernandez to reach final

Saturday, 02 November 2024 at 11:34

Diana Shnaider is into yet another final with the rising Russian taking down defending champion Leylah Fernandez at the Hong Kong Open as she lived up to her top seed billing this week.

Shnaider will again reach another career high ranking of World No.13 next week no matter what when she faces Katie Boulter in the final. But she also could surge past Barbora Krejcikova as she zooms in on the top 10 likely at the start of next year.

The 20-year-old has sealed three titles already this year after sealing her first in Hua Hin in January, she then won in Bad Homburg and also Budapest to ascend her up the rankings. A similar trajectory to her doubles partner at the Olympic Games in Mirra Andreeva where they won silver.

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Both seem to be heading towards displacing some of the top 10 names who will drop starting at the Australian Open and usher in a new generation. She finally defeated Fernandez on her third attempt after two prior losses to the Canadian who was looking to defend her title and despite a good week, she will drop in ranking after losing her title.

Sealing it in just over an hour and 20 minutes, the battle of the lefties saw back and forth breaks in the opening set as Shnaider took leads at 1-0 and 4-3 but was pegged back both times. Albeit this game of cat and mouse resulted in Shnaider winning the set 6-4 as she broke again and finally held albeit on her fifth set point to claim the win and move through.

Fernandez went down a break in the second which saw Shnaider head towards the finish. The Russian held for 3-1 and then 4-2 before breaking once more. She was easing towards the finish with Fernandez not offering much in return as Shnaider dominated her in particular on her serve. She completed the win 6-2 and now faces Boulter who moved into the final by seeing off Yue Yuan earlier on Saturday morning.

Boulter herself reached the semi-finals last week in Tokyo and like Shnaider is having a terrific year. After a great line-up was conceived in the semi-finals, we now have a great final to come on Sunday.

WTARussians

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A first win over Leylah Fernandez for Diana Shnaider! The top seed claims a 6-4, 6-2 win over the Canadian for her first win against her in 3 meetings, moving into the Hong Kong Tennis Open final! Feels very fitting to end the year by reaching yet another championship match!

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10:33 AM · Nov 2, 2024

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