Elena Rybakina is set to meet Leylah Fernandez again, three months after suffering one of the most devastating losses of her season.
Rybakina, seeded at No. 2, had a first-round bye at the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo while Fernandez kicked off her campaign by beating Maria Sakkari 7-6 (5) 6-4. Now, the second-seeded Kazakh and the 22nd-ranked Canadian are slated to fight for a Tokyo quarterfinal spot.
For Rybakina, it will be an extremely important match since she must reach the Tokyo semifinal in order to book the final WTA Finals spot. If she fails to make the last-four in the Japanese capital, the Kazakh will lose out on the last WTA Finals ticket and Mirra Andreeva will be the final player to earn a Riyadh entry.
ADVERTISEMENT
Can Rybakina get her revenge against Fernandez in Tokyo?
In late July, Rybakina and Fernandez squared off in the Washington semifinal and the Kazakh appeared to be heading toward sealing a straight-set win after opening a 7-6 (2) 5-3 lead. The Canadian served out the ninth game, but then the 2022 Wimbledon champion had a chance to close out the match on her serve. Then, out of nowhere, the Kazakh played a poor game and got broken for the first time in the match.
After surviving and forcing a tie-break, Fernandez went 5-0 in the tie-break before converting her first set point to send the match into a deciding set. The third set also went into a tie-break, where the Canadian opened a 4-0 lead before completing a stunning 6-7 (2) 7-6 (3) 7-6 (3) win in three hours and 12 minutes of play.
ADVERTISEMENT
Fernandez went on to win the Washington title after also beating Anna Kalinskaya in the final.
ADVERTISEMENT
For Rybakina, it was undoubtedly a brutal way to lose the match and fell just short of winning Washington. Now, in Tokyo, the 26-year-old has a chance to make amends for the Washington and put herself one win away from making the WTA Finals.
