Fernandez rips tournament organizers after loss

Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, walks off court following her first round match loss to Maya Joint, of Australia, at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Leylah Fernandez has a bone to pick with tournament organizers.

Not only did she feel crushed by her lacklustre performance before a hometown crowd — tears still running down her cheeks more than 90 minutes after the match — Fernandez also blamed unfavourable scheduling that set her up to fail.

The top-ranked Canadian crashed out of the National Bank Open’s first round with a lopsided 6-4, 6-1 loss to Australia’s Maya Joint on Tuesday afternoon, two days after hoisting her fourth WTA crown at the D.C. Open.

Fernandez said she received “a lot of promises” that she would take the court during Tuesday’s night session, awarding her more time to rest between the two tournaments, but learned Sunday while travelling to Montreal from Washington that wouldn’t be the case.

“I did not receive that,” she said. “That hurt me because I was very looking forward to be playing at night, but I guess it’s a little bit political issues at that point.”

Valérie Tétreault, the National Bank Open tournament director in Montreal, said she promised Fernandez she would “fight so that she could have the time she wanted.”

“But I didn’t win my fight,” Tétreault said, highlighting that the WTA Tour decides the scheduling. “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, but of course with the scheduling I have to follow the protocol set by the WTA.”

Tétreault added that exceptions had already been made for Fernandez. The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., and Joint were among the final three first-round matches held until Tuesday, despite her half of the bracket starting play on Sunday.

Fellow Washington finalist Anna Kalinskaya of Russia was also scheduled to play no earlier than 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, but she won her match 7-6 (6), 0-6, 6-3 over Ann Li of the United States.

“Normally when we have matches that are delayed, when there is catch-up to do, we have to play them as early as possible during the day,” Tétreault said. “We pushed her at least so that it wouldn’t be the first match at 11 a.m. to give her a chance to recover.”

Tennis Canada released a statement backing up Tétreault’s words.

“WTA protocols mean first-round matches need to be completed before second-round matches are played, ensuring fairness to all players involved,” the statement read. “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.”

Fernandez had previously detailed a whirlwind turnaround after winning her fourth WTA title Sunday in Washington. She arrived back home in Montreal at roughly 2 a.m. on Monday and slept about three or four hours that night before attending an event for her foundation at IGA Stadium around 8 a.m. that morning.

‘I was just disappointed with my level of play’

The fatigue certainly showed on the court.

Leylah Fernandez Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, plays a shot to Maya Joint, of Australia, during their first round match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

“It felt great being on court, hearing the fans and feeling their support. I was just disappointed with my level of play, and it wasn’t fair for them,” the No. 24-ranked Fernandez said. “It was a very, very low level.”

Fernandez gave up six break points and won only 49 per cent of her points on first serve. The 19-year-old Joint, ranked 45th, won 62 of 109 points to win the match in 75 minutes.

Fernandez fell down 2-0, double-faulting twice to drop her first service game. In a 5-2 hole, Fernandez saved a set point and battled back to make it 5-4, but failed to hold serve once again. In the second, Joint rolled to a 4-0 lead and hardly looked back.

The Canadian also took issue with the WTA’s tone when it revealed the scheduling to her coach — and father — Jorge Fernandez.

“It’s not only the decision they made, the change of decision, but it’s the way they spoke with my coach,” she said. “They asked him with a sarcastic tone if two or three hours would make a difference. From my point of view, I think yes, it would make a great difference. Maybe I win the match, maybe I don’t, but of course it helps the two to three hours where I could sleep a little more. The two to three hours that I lost to come here with the plane quite late.

“Physical recovery, maybe a stretching session, a massage could help me. But it’s just small things of ‘What if,’ but it didn’t happen and that’s it.”

This year’s National Bank Open — a WTA 1000-level tournament — debuted a revamped 12-day, 96-player format, with the top 32 seeds receiving byes to the second round.

Tétreault said she foresaw potential problems arising from her tournament’s main draw beginning the same day as the WTA 500 final in Washington.

“The calendar is supposed to be made so that the 1000-level tournaments are prioritized over a WTA 500, so we’ll have to go back to the drawing table,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press

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