PREVIEW DC Open WTA Final: Can Anna Kalinskaya finally win first title against resurgent Leylah Fernandez?

The clamour before the final of the DC Open in Washington was about a potential Emma Raducanu v Leylah Fernandez US Open re-run and the Brit potentially winning her first title since but it is another potential first instead as Anna Kalinskaya faces Leylah Fernandez on Sunday evening.

Kalinskaya has been as high as World No.11 before but despite reaching finals in Berlin and Dubai last year has been unable yet to take the next step. As a result of not being able to defend said points, the Russian plummeted in the rankings.

But she is now back on song this week and is smiling and playing great tennis. The same can be said about Fernandez who has kept good form at times since reaching the US Open final but in truth has never fully kicked on. Often it has been a smattering of form and the odd title followed by six months of not much from there for the Canadian. So while we don't get that final that would've created headlines, we get one a bit more meaningful for the finalists when it comes to their resurgence.

It can be said that Kalinskaya reaching the final was somewhat more of a formality glazing over the Raducanu factor. The Brit while she has played exceptional this week had hit a bit of a wall physically and had telling comments prior to her doubles retirement about needing to see the doctors.

The heat of DC is a cruel mistress and Raducanu tripped up 6-4, 6-3 in favour of the Russian who dominated headlines last year for dating Jannik Sinner over her exploits on court as such. But now not with the World No.1, she has come back into light and prominence for her on court exploits.

Arguably her best stop on the tour, Kalinskaya has form in DC. She holds a 9-2 main draw win-loss record in Washington and never lost before the quarter-finals prior including a semi-final showing in 2019 as a qualifier ranked 160. She reached her third career singles final going one better after narrow losses in both of those finals she perhaps has her best opportunity here.

She dominated Raducanu with 19 winners in the opening set and broke in the opener of the second to breeze through. But in facing Raducanu, it is perhaps less of a mission than a speedy Fernandez who while erratic at times has found her place this week to excel.

It has been an epic run for Kalinskaya who saw off Rakhimova, Linette, Tauson and Raducanu to reach the latter stages and she spoke about why DC suits her more than most other tournaments.

"I always like to be aggressive," Kalinskaya said on Saturday night. "I like that style of the game. Yeah, I guess the fast court fits me very well, but you need to be fast at making decisions. It's also very challenging.

"But I guess when I serve good, return fast, that's what I like the most, and to try to be aggressive as much as I can, and the fast court helps."

Elena Rybakina served for her win over Leylah Fernandez and looked to be edging through to the final. But the never say die attitude of the Canadian showed through as she battled all the way back from 7-6, 5-4 down to force a deciding set before playing out a grueling tie-break.

Sunday is a huge chance for Fernandez who would win her biggest career title despite having multiple and it would be a first since late 2023 where she won in Hong Kong. But it is the culmination of a surge from the Canadian who like against Rybakina often isn't expected to pull it off but she does.

"When I first started playing tennis, there was like a mini camp and they were doing a physical test, kind of a straight-line sprint," Fernandez said after her quarterfinal win on Friday. "I was probably the slowest out of all of the girls there.

"The coaches were concerned, like 'She's not very good physically.' They talked to my parents, and my parents said, 'Yeah, but if you put a tennis ball in front of her and you ask her to run for every ball, she's gonna do it. Her heart and her belief in herself is much bigger than most of the girls in that camp.'"

But it's not only the proving people wrong for Fernandez but also the waiting for things to come good as she said she has always just focused on how her game is improving over the bottom line.

"We're doing things right," Fernandez said on Saturday. "The results are going to come. [I'll] keep enjoying it, and to not focus too much on results but focus on how my game is improving."

Against Kalinskaya, she has a Head-to-Head of 1-0 albeit their only contest was around four years ago. It was on the hard courts of Guadalajara in which the Canadian sealed it 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Fernandez against Kalinskaya is a battle not only of two players trying to revive their fortunes but two who in reality have been unlucky in the past both with injuries and form.

While it wasn't the re-run of the 2021 final, it was the next best thing as Kalinskaya will either won a highly and long awaited first title or Fernandez will return to prominence once more. What an end to the week we have in store in DC.