Leylah Fernandez’s triumphant week at the Mubadala Citi DC Open was supposed to set her up perfectly for home glory at the Canadian Open. Instead, broken promises about scheduling left her feeling betrayed by tournament organizers and apparently contributed to a disappointing first-round exit.
The former World No. 13’s frustration went beyond her play on court, revealing the behind-the-scenes developments that can derail even the most prepared players.
How Did Leylah Fernandez’s DC Open Victory Set Up Her Canadian Open Campaign?
Leading up to the WTA 1000 hard court tournament in Montreal, Fernandez competed at the DC Open, where she defeated the likes of Maya Joint, Jessica Pegula, Taylor Townsend, and Elena Rybakina to reach the final. There, she overcame Anna Kalinskaya with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-2 to secure her fourth career WTA Tour title.
The victory should have provided momentum heading into her home tournament. However, the quick turnaround between events created challenges that Fernandez believed could have been mitigated with proper scheduling considerations from the Canadian Open organizers.
Why Did Tournament Scheduling Become Such a Critical Issue for Fernandez?
In her opening match at the 2025 Canadian Open, Fernandez faced Joint and lost 6-4, 6-1. During the post-match press conference, she expressed “disappointment” in her level of play. Nevertheless, she mentioned that she was grateful for the support from the home crowd, describing it as “awesome.”
“Oh, yeah, the short turnaround. I mean, we got promises — oh, man. It felt great being on court, hearing the fans and feeling their support. It was awesome, and I mean awesome. I’m just disappointed with my level of play, and it wasn’t fair for them. I mean, it was a very, very low level,” Fernandez said.
The former World No. 13 pointed out the challenges the “short turnaround” posed between her final match at the DC Open and her first-round match in Montreal. She revealed that the tournament organizers had promised her a night slot, a commitment that ultimately went unfulfilled.
“But I mean, regarding on the short turnaround, I received a lot of promises from the — from scheduling about giving me maybe the night match, and I did not receive that. So that kind of hurt me because I was very looking forward to be playing at night, but you know, I guess it’s a little bit political issues at that point,” she continued.
The broken promise clearly affected Fernandez both practically and emotionally. A night match would have given her additional recovery time after her demanding week in Washington, while the failure to honor the commitment left her feeling undervalued by her home tournament.
What Did the Home Crowd Support Mean to Fernandez Despite Her Loss?
Fernandez reiterated her gratitude to the crowd for their support and cheers during the match, finding positives even in a difficult defeat.
“But other than that, again, the crowd was just amazing. I heard the emcee kind of cheering me on and also encouraging the crowd even more. That kind of warmed my heart. I never had that kind of energy before, and it was just an honor and a lot of fun, yeah,” Fernandez added.
In addition to her singles competition at the 2025 Canadian Open, Fernandez will also participate in the doubles event alongside her sister, Bianca Andreescu. The sister duo received a wildcard entry into the main draw and will face the top-seeded pair of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the first round.
The winner of this match will advance to compete against either the team of Barbora Krejčiková and Jeļena Ostapenko or the pair of Tereza Mihalíková and Olivia Nicholls in the second round. For Fernandez, the doubles draw provides another opportunity to find success at her home tournament despite the singles disappointment.
