17-years-old Fernandez ready for final at Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco

Just 17-years-old Leylah Fernandez will meet Heather Watson in her first WTA final at Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco.

The young Canadian did not lose a set in Acapulco yet. It all started with a Fed Cup victory over Belinda Bencic for Fernandez. After Fed Cup Qualifier, she went to Mexico where she is playing the best tournament in her life.

En route to the final, Fernandez outplayed Cabrera, Lepchenko, Stojanovic, Hibino, Potapova and home-crowd favorite, Zarazua. The Canadian got to the final in Acapulco from qualifying, without losing a single set. Especially, the match against the Mexican was difficult for Fernandez as she knew that the home crowd will support Zarazua.

"I honestly took the energy from the crowd," said Fernandez. "I love how loud it is, and how emotional they are, and that helped me too -- even though they cheered for Renata most of the time! It helped me, and that made me stay focused a lot more."

"I knew the crowd wasn’t going to be for me, but I was so happy that they came and were supportive," Fernandez continued. "They were amazing and they were respectful, and hopefully they’ll be there tomorrow, but instead of cheering against me, for me!"

In the final, a teenager from Canada will meet Heather Watson. Both players met already twice on the ITF circuit when Fernandez was still just 16. She received a wild-card at 2 tournaments in Canada where Watson defeated her 2-0 in both cases.

"I played against [Watson] last year a few times," said Fernandez, who lost two matches to Watson in Canada last summer. "I know she’s a very aggressive player and that she’s a tough competitor, and I’m excited to play against her in a final. I’ll just go out there and fight and work for every ball."

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