Fernandez overcomes Andreeva to reach first semifinal of 2026

No. 6 seed Leylah Fernandez reached her first semifinal of the season Friday, continuing her hard-court dominance over No. 1 seed Mirra Andreeva with a 6-2, 7-5 victory in the quarterfinals of the WTA Singapore Tennis Open.

Fernandez had won both of her previous hard-court meetings with Andreeva, in Hong Kong in 2023 and Toronto earlier this year, while Andreeva had won both of their previous meetings on clay.

After saving two break points in the third game of the first set, Fernandez broke Andreeva and pulled away to take the set 6-2. Both players saved break points early in the second set, but the Canadian continued to capitalize on Andreeva's errors and moved a break ahead to lead 5-2.

Andreeva rallied to raise hopes of a comeback, breaking back and leveling the set at 5-5. Fernandez, however, broke again in the 12th game to complete the victory in 1 hour, 32 minutes.

"It's such a great win," Fernandez told the media after the match. "The way that I played, the way that I fought in the second set. It wasn't an easy match to begin with, physically and then of course mentally. I'm just happy that I was able to get through the finish line today."

By the end of the match, Andreeva's unforced error count stood at 41, compared with 30 for Fernandez. The Canadian also hit more winners - 13 to 12 for her opponent.

The victory was Fernandez's biggest of the season and the ninth of her career against a Top 10 opponent.

"It just feels like I've played her so many times over the years," the Canadian said about her record against Andreeva. "We've practiced together a few times, so it's always a competitive battle. It just feels like I'm figuring her out and same as her, she's figuring me out. So it's kind of that push and pull. I'm not going to say that from then on I'm going to win against her all the time because that's not the case. We never know the result. We just know that it's going to be a battle."

Fernandez will face No. 5 seed Maja Chwalinska in the semifinals Saturday. The Pole, a Roland Garros runner-up, defeated No. 4 seed Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-2 to reach the last four.  It will be the first meeting between Chwalinska and Fernandez.

"Maja, she's such a tough opponent," Fernandez said looking ahead to Saturday. "She's having a great season too. She got to the finals of a Grand Slam. So it's not going to be an easy one. She's playing great. I'm going to kind of regroup tonight. After I eat, I just kind of talk with my coaches. I have a video call chat and see what the game plan is going to be like the next day."

Also advancing to the semifinals was Tatiana Prozorova, who rallied from a set down to defeat China's Xinyu Wang 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach her first WTA Tour-level semifinal. Prozorova will face Australia's Talia Gibson, who upset No. 7 seed Maria Sakkari 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in the last quarterfinal of the day.