WATCH: Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend over the moon after entering maiden Grand Slam final as a pair
Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend have entered their maiden Grand Slam doubles final as a pair at the 2023 French Open.
They came up against No. 2 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the semifinals. The match-up was a repeat of the women's doubles final of the 2023 Miami Open, which Gauff and Pegula won.
However, Fernandez and Townsend took their revenge at the French Open, quashing Gauff and Pegula in straight sets. The Canadian-American duo took the first set 6-0 after saving two break points on their serve.
The second set was much more competitive, with Gauff and Pegula finally managing to hold serve, but their opponents broke them at 5-4 to book their berth in the final. Their next opponents are Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu, who bettered Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez in the other semifinal.
After winning the match, Fernandez and Townsend threw their rackets in the air and jumped up in joy before giving each other a tight hug, followed by Townsend's unique 'salt sprinkling' celebration.
Look at that reaction 💜
@TaylorTownsend & @leylahfernandez are into the @rolandgarros doubles final, defeating Gauff/Pegula, 6-0, 6-4!
#RolandGarros
https://t.co/buvwBTTnqb
This is Fernandez and Townsend's first year together as doubles partners on the WTA Tour, and their partnership has been fruitful. While they haven't picked up a title yet, the duo has made serious inroads at big tournaments and is now third in the Live WTA Doubles Race for the season.
Among their best performances in 2023, Fernandez and Townsend were finalists at the Miami Open (loss to Gauff and Pegula), semifinalists at the Madrid Open (loss to Beatriz Haddad Maia and Victoria Azarenka), and quarterfinalists at the Charleston Open (loss to Caroline Dolehide and Storm Sanders).
A look into Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend's journey at the 2023 French Open
Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend entered the women's doubles main draw at the 2023 French Open as the No. 10 seed. They began their campaign against former Grand Slam winners Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sara Errani, beating them 7-5, 7-6 (3).
They then trounced Fang-Hsien Wu and Ingrid Neel in the second round, 6-1, 6-2, and overcame a stern test against No. 8 seed Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani in the third round, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
In the quarterfinals, Townsend and Fernandez faced the Taiwanese pairing of Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan and defeated them 6-3, 6-3.
After besting Gauff and Pegula in the semifinal, Townsend has now made it into her second Grand Slam women's doubles final. She played in the 2022 US Open final with Caty McNally (l. Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova). Leylah Fernandez is also a Grand Slam finalist but in singles, having lost to Emma Raducanu in the 2021 US Open final.