Leylah Fernandez carried her hard-court edge over Mirra Andreeva into the Singapore Tennis Open semifinals on Friday, knocking out the top seed 6-2, 7-5 in a 1-hour, 32-minute quarterfinal. The sixth-seeded Canadian absorbed a late surge from Andreeva before sealing her first WTA semifinal appearance of the season.
The result extended Fernandez’s unbeaten record against Andreeva on hard courts to three matches. She had previously beaten the Russian in Hong Kong in 2023 and in Toronto earlier this year, while Andreeva’s two wins in their rivalry had both come on clay.
Fernandez had to fend off two break points in the third game before taking control of the opening set. She broke soon afterwards and steadily opened the gap, closing out the set 6-2. The second set was tighter, with both players escaping early break-point pressure, but Fernandez took advantage of a stream of mistakes from the world No. 1 seed to establish a 5-2 lead.
Andreeva refused to let the match go quietly. She recovered the break and drew level at 5-5, briefly turning the momentum as a deciding set appeared possible. Fernandez responded decisively, however, breaking again in the 12th game to finish the upset in straight sets.
The Canadian produced 13 winners to Andreeva’s 12 and kept her error total lower as well, committing 30 unforced errors against 41 from the top seed. It was Fernandez’s most significant victory of the season and the ninth Top-10 win of her career.
Chwalinska awaits in first semifinal meeting
Fernandez will play fifth seed Maja Chwalinska on Saturday for a place in the final. Chwalinska, the Roland Garros runner-up, ended defending champion Elise Mertens’ run with a commanding 6-2, 6-2 victory over the fourth seed. The semifinal will mark the first tour-level meeting between Fernandez and the Pole.
The other side of the draw also produced a breakthrough run for Tatiana Prozorova. She rallied past China’s Xinyu Wang 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach her first WTA Tour-level semifinal. Prozorova will meet either seventh seed Maria Sakkari or Australia’s Talia Gibson, whose quarterfinal was scheduled later on Friday.
