Diana Shnaider wins the Tokyo title, defeating Leylah Fernandez

Shnaider takes the title in three sets

Russian tennis player Diana Shnaider, ranked 13th in the world, won the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating Canadian Leylah Fernandez (world No. 23) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. This was reported by AFP. For Shnaider, this is her first title of the year and the sixth of her career — her previous one came in Monterrey in August of last year.

Course of the match

Shnaider started the match confidently: she took the first set and led 4-0 in the second, but Fernandez fought back and leveled the match, showing, in AFP's words, gritty tennis in the second set. At the same time, the Canadian struggled with her serve — she made five double faults in the match, and her first-serve accuracy in the opening set was only 50 percent. In the deciding set, Shnaider regained control, broke her opponent's serve twice, and served for the match at 5-2. She sealed the title on her first match point.

Season context for both finalists

Fernandez arrived at the Tokyo final in excellent form: in her previous 20 matches she had won 16, including a title at the Singapore Open in September and a run to the final in Ningbo last week, where she lost to world No. 1 Elena Rybakina. For Shnaider, this final was her first of the current year — before that, she had four times fallen one step short of the title match, losing in semifinals. After receiving the trophy, Shnaider said on court: “This definitely means a lot. It's a great achievement and a wonderful way to end the season.”