French Open: Fernandez-Townsend beat Gauff-Pegula to reach women’s doubles final

Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend needed just 64 minutes to book their place in the first Grand Slam final together

Paris: The No.10 seeds Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend needed just 64 minutes to book their place in the first Grand Slam final together, defeating No.2 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 6-0, 6-4 in the women’s doubles semifinals at the French Open, here on Friday.

With this, Townsend advanced to her second major final, having been runner-up alongside Caty McNally at last year’s US Open to Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

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For Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up in singles, the result marked her first Grand Slam final in doubles. They will face either No.6 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez or the unseeded Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu for the title.

The Canadian-American duo first teamed up at Indian Wells in March, and their record together now stands at 14-4. The defeat of Gauff and Pegula reverses the result of the Miami final, which the all-American team won 7-6(6), 6-2.

Townsend also exacted a measure of revenge for last year’s Roland Garros semifinals, which — partnering Madison Keys — she lost 6-4, 7-6(4) to Gauff and Pegula.