'I mean, we got promises -- oh, man': Leylah Fernandez slams WTA, tournament organisers for ‘political’ decision after Canadian Open first-round exit

Canada’s Leylah Fernandez has complained about an interesting thing after suffering a rather shocking exit from the ongoing Canadian Open. The 22-year-old came into the competition on the back of lifting her first title in Washington.

She defeated Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-2. However, things were not as rosy for Fernandez as she suffered a defeat in the first round of the ongoing WTA 1000 event in Montreal to Australia’s Maya Joint in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-1. Talking after the match, Fernandez bemoaned the fact that promises were not honoured about her match being played at night. Fernandez revealed that she asked the authorities, but the request was denied because of ‘political reasons’.

"Oh, yeah, the short turnaround. I mean, we got promises -- oh, man,” she said. “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.”

Fernandez also went on to admit that her performance on the day was not good enough to go through to the second round. Fernandez stated that the defeat ‘hurt’ her as she was playing in front of the home crowd, but did not manage to give the fans what they deserved. “It felt great being on court,” she said. “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.”

Bound by the rules

Tournament director Valérie Tétreault spoke to the local press and addressed Fernandez’s comments by saying that she fought her case but failed to win it. Tétreault stated that the WTA had the final say in decisions regarding the scheduling matters of a competition. “I didn’t win my fight,” she said. “I received the request for her to play in the evening. It’s my role to have conversations with the WTA, so I pushed as much as possible for her to have what she wanted.”

Tennis Canada also issued a statement about the issue and stated that Fernandez’s match was started as late as possible. The statement also clarified that, according to the rule, the authorities were bound to have the first round matches end before the start of the second round matches in the competitions.

“WTA protocols mean first-round matches need to be completed before second-round matches are played, ensuring fairness to all players,” said Tennis Canada statement. “Given Leylah won the title in Washington on Sunday, she was not able to arrive in Montreal until the early hours of Monday morning. As a result, the WTA made the decision to play her opening match in the latest possible first-round slot.”

The result is a significant blow for Fernandez, who was hoping to produce consistent results on the court after lifting her first title this year. The result was another reminder for Fernandez why her critics always cast doubts about her ability to become one of the best players in the world, despite playing in the final of a Grand Slam at the age of just 18 back in 2021. Defeat on Tuesday was Fernandez’s 17th in 38 matches in 2025. Despite the setback, Leylah will return to the court on Wednesday and will partner her sister Bianca Fernandez in the doubles category’s round of 32 match against the pair of Italy’s Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani.