Leylah Fernandez beat Australia’s Talia Gibson 7-5, 6-0 on Sunday to win the Singapore Tennis Open, then thanked the Singaporean and Filipino fans who had come to watch matches throughout the week.
“I would like to thank all the Singaporean fans and the Pinoy fans who came to watch this whole week,” Fernandez said in an on-court victory speech. “You guys made this week extremely special with all your encouragement, the energy and the positivity that you brought in everyone’s matches.”
Fernandez, a Canadian whose mother is Filipino, won her first title of the season and the sixth WTA singles title of her career. The sixth seed completed the final in 1 hour, 38 minutes, earning her second title at the WTA 500 level.
Gibson twice came back from a break down in the first set. Fernandez held off the Australian to win it 7-5, then took all six games in the second set. She converted six of 12 break-point opportunities in the match and won 70 of the 122 points played, according to the WTA’s official statistics.
The victory ended a tournament run in which Fernandez lost only one set. She beat top-seeded Mirra Andreeva 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals. In Saturday’s semifinals, she fell behind 5-0 against Poland’s Maja Chwalińska before recovering to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Fernandez credited the crowd with helping her reset during that comeback.
She had also acknowledged Filipino supporters after her opening-round victory over Japan’s Kyoka Okamura. Speaking to spectators after the 6-2, 6-3 win, Fernandez thanked the Singaporean fans and said “salamat” to the Pinoy fans in attendance.
Gibson reached her first WTA final after her semifinal opponent, Tatiana Prozorova, withdrew because of a concussion. Sunday’s championship match was the first meeting between Gibson and Fernandez.
In her victory speech, Fernandez thanked spectators for supporting the tournament beyond her own matches. “Thank you for coming to watch women’s tennis,” she said, “and hopefully you guys get to watch many more matches live and in person, too.”
