TOKYO
\nRussia\u2019s Diana Shnaider won her first title of the year with a hard-fought victory over Leylah Fernandez in Tokyo on Sunday and couldn\u2019t wait to tell her mum all about it. The world number 13 beat Canada\u2019s Fernandez 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win the Pan Pacific Open and then went straight to her phone to call home.
\n\u201cI was calling my mum \u2014 I wanted to hear her voice after winning a title and share a first few moments with her,\u201d the 22-year-old Shnaider said. \u201cShe said \u2018you\u2019ve just finished and already you\u2019re calling me\u2019.\u201d It was Shnaider\u2019s first title since Monterrey in August last year and the sixth of her career.
\nShe looked to be cruising to victory after winning the first set and taking a 4-0 lead in the second.
\nWorld number 23 Fernandez came back to win the second set, but Shnaider regained control to close out the match. \u201cIt was definitely a tight, close match,\u201d Shnaider said. \u201cIt makes me even happier that I was able to fight for the title and in the end win it.\u201d
\nFernandez went into the final with 16 wins in her previous 20 matches. That run included victory at the Singapore Open in September and a runner-up finish at last week\u2019s Ningbo Open in China behind world number one Elena Rybakina.
\nFernandez struggled with her serve, double-faulting five times throughout the match and landing only half of her first serves in the first set.
\nShe got it together when it mattered though, stunning Shnaider in the second set with some tenacious tennis to even the score at one set each. Shnaider regained her composure when she returned for the final set, breaking Fernandez\u2019s serve twice and clinching the title with her first match point.
\nShe was appearing in her first final of the year after losing in the semifinals four times before this week. \u201cVery happy that I was able to win the title,\u201d she said. \u201cIt definitely means a lot to me, to my team, my family to finish on a high note.\u201d Fernandez shed tears as she thanked her family in her on-court interview and said that she had received some \u201cbad news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO Russia\u2019s Diana Shnaider won her first title of the year with a hard-fought victory over Leylah Fernandez in Tokyo on Sunday and couldn\u2019t wait to tell her mum all about it. The world number 13 beat Canada\u2019s Fernandez 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win the Pan Pacific Open and then went straight to her phone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n