“We had very hard past couple of years,” Leylah Fernandez opens up on struggles as she ends her title drought after nearly 600 days by winning the Hong Kong Open

Leylah Fernandez beat Katerina Siniakova 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final to win the 2023 Hong Kong Open.

“We had very hard past couple of years,” Leylah Fernandez opens up on struggles as she ends her title drought after nearly 600 days by winning the Hong Kong Open

Leylah Fernandez (Source: Hong Kong Tennis)

Leylah Fernandez redeemed herself after recently winning the 2023 Hong Kong Open by defeating Katerina Siniakova in the final of the tournament. This was the Canadian’s first title in as many as 594 days (19 months), which goes on to show how much it means to her. Moreover, this was also Leylah Fernandez’s first trophy of the season. 

“We had a very, very hard past couple of years. My family, my parents, my coach, and my performance coach stayed by my side. They motivated me to keep going and the hard work is paying off. Hopefully, we can keep going this way,” Leylah Fernandez said after winning the final. (H/T: WTA Tennis)

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“Katerina was playing an incredible match, hitting winners from the backhand, forehand, left, right, and center. It was a tough game for me, especially emotionally, to control myself. At one point, I just had to focus on the ball,” further added the 21-year-old.

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For the uninitiated, Katerina Siniakova is currently 21 years old and the 60th-ranked player in the world. The Hong Kong Open was the third title of her career, and she definitely has a long way to go. Her form had been utterly poor since the 2021 US Open, and this was the first title that she won after that. However, it now seems like she has made a comeback and would like to hold this momentum in her favor.

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Leylah Fernandez defeated Katerina Siniakova in a thrilling final 

Leylah Fernandez
Leylah Fernandez (Source: Tennis.com)

Leylah Fernandez and Katerina Siniakova fought valiantly in the final of the Hong Kong Open. It was Siniakova who won the first set of the match and put pressure on the Canadian. However, Leylah made a sensational comeback at the beginning of the second set as she went 4-0 up.

However, Siniakova took a timely off-court medical timeout after being down, and when she came back, she made the score 4-3 immediately. Thankfully, Leylah Fernandez was able to finish the job, and she took the second set. 

In the third set, the two players exchanged break points but it was Leylah Fernandez who got the 5-4 lead. She was able to finish it off by winning the last game efficiently, and thus, she won the Hong Kong Open in immaculate fashion. 

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