Quebec's Leylah Fernandez falls 6-3, 6-4 in final at Eastbourne

Russia's Daria Kasatkina, right, poses for a photo with Canada's Leylah Fernandez, after winning the women's singles final on day eight of the Rothesay Eastbourne International tennis tournament at Devonshire Park, in Eastbourne, England, Saturday June 29, 2024. (Gareth Fuller, The Associated Press)

Canada's Leylah Fernandez fell 6-3, 6-4 to Russia's Daria Kasatkina on Saturday in the Rothesay International women's singles final.

The Laval, Que., native had one ace to three double faults and won 51 per cent of her first-serve points. Fernandez also broke on two of seven opportunities in the one-hour, 50-minute match.

It was Fernandez's sixth career final but first on grass and first at the WTA 500 level or above since the 2021 U.S. Open.

She defeated defending champion Madison Keys 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in Friday's semifinal at the Wimbledon tune-up event.

Kasatkina, the world No. 14, had one ace to five double faults and won 63.1 per cent of her first-serve points. However, she broke on five of her 10 opportunities.

Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe lost 5-7, 7-6 (2), 10-8 to Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Kichenok in the women's doubles final later Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2024.