Canada’s Leylah Fernandez has climbed back into the top 20 of the WTA Tour world rankings for the first time in more than four years, following her run to the final of the Pan Pacific Open.
The Laval, Que., native rose five places to No. 18 in the rankings released on Monday. On Sunday, she lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to Russia’s Diana Shnaider in a match that lasted two hours and 18 minutes.
A strong run to the final
Fernandez beat Elise Mertens of Belgium, the 14th-ranked player, in the round of 16. In the quarter-finals, she secured a walkover win over top-ranked Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
The result also followed a runner-up finish the week before in Ningbo, China, another WTA 500 hardcourt event. There, Fernandez lost 6-2, 6-2 to Rybakina in the final.
Title success this season
The 24-year-old earned her first title of the season at the Singapore Open in late September. It was the sixth WTA Tour title of her career. Fernandez last sat inside the top 20 in September 2022, a month after reaching a career-high No. 13 in the world rankings.
Other Canadians in the rankings
Rybakina leads an unchanged top three, with Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at No. 2 and Mirra Andreeva of Russia at No. 3.
Fernandez also moved ahead of Victoria Mboko of Burlington, Ont., who dropped five spots to No. 20. Mboko has not played a competitive match since June because of a left knee injury.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., jumped 20 spots to No. 109 after winning the WTA 125-level Queretaro Open in Mexico last weekend. Kayla Cross of London, Ont., fell eight spots to No. 197.