Leylah Fernandez Questions Canadian Open Schedule After Loss
Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez expressed her dissatisfaction with the schedule of the Canadian Open, after her defeat in the first round of the tournament held in Montreal. The player, who had just won the title in Washington, did not have the desired rest and was defeated by the Australian Maya Joint. Fernandez, ranked number 24 in the ranking, was defeated by Joint with a score of 6-4 and 6-1 in a match that lasted one hour and fifteen minutes. The Canadian tennis player had won her fourth WTA title on Sunday in Washington and hoped to have more time to recover before competing in Montreal.Instead of Fernandez, Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins starred in the night session match. Valerie Tetreault, tournament director, responded that she promised Fernandez that she would “fight for her to have the time she wanted”.I received many promises that I would play in the Tuesday night session, which would give me more time to recover between the two tournaments, but on Sunday, while traveling, I learned that it would not be so. That hurt me because I really wanted to play at night, but I guess they are a bit political problems at that moment.
Leylah Fernandez
Tetreault added that exceptions had already been made for Fernandez, runner-up of the 2021 US Open. The 22-year-old player and Joint were among the last three first-round matches held until Tuesday, despite their side of the draw starting to play on Sunday. Tennis Canada issued a statement explaining that WTA protocols require first-round matches to be completed before second-round matches are played, ensuring fairness for all players. Since Leylah won the title in Washington on Sunday, she was unable to arrive in Montreal until early Monday morning. As a result, the WTA made the decision to schedule her opening match in the latest possible time slot of the first round. In other results, Mirra Andreeva advanced to the third round due to Bianca Andreescu’s withdrawal due to an ankle injury. Jasmine Paolini was surprised by Aoi Ito, while Emma Navarro defeated Rebecca Marino.But I didn’t win my fight. I received the request to play at night. It’s my job to have conversations with the WTA, so I pushed as hard as I could for her to have what she wanted.
Valerie Tetreault
