Emma Raducanu outclassed by Anna Kalinskaya in Washington semi-final | Tennis

Anna Kalinskaya has outraged Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-3 at the Washington Open to go to the final, where she will face Leylah Fernandez.

After a solid departure from the two players, Kalinskaya obtained the first break to lead 5-4 and served the opening set, handing over to Raducanu his first abandoned tournament set.

The two exchanged the first breaks in the second set before the Russian took forward once again, taking an advance which turned out to be decisive and again to seal the victory.

Having refused fans a revenge match of the open US 2021 final between Raducanu and Fernandez, Kalinskaya will now aim to win his first WTA 500 title in Sunday’s final.

“It was an interesting match. It’s nice to play against Emma,” said World No 48 Kalinskaya. “I’m proud of myself. I remained aggressive and stayed in my plan. ”

Fernandez “is such a fighter, she plays incredibly and never abandons. I played a difficult battle against her some time ago. Tomorrow, I think it will be the same and I am excited ”.

Earlier, Fernandez came from a set to defeat the third seeded Elena Rybakina 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in a battle of marathon marked by a dominant portion of the two players.

Rybakina was ahead of a first tight set, winning the upper hand in the equality break with two winners of clutch return.

Fernandez dropped his service in the opening match of the second set, but Rybakina could not serve the match at 5-4, allowing the Canadian to rally and level the competition by taking the second equality break.

As in the first match, none of the players abandoned the third set, but Fernandez gained confidence and won the victory in three hours and 12 minutes to reach his first final of the season.