Leylah Fernandez criticizes the Canadian Open schedule after her defeat
Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez expressed her dissatisfaction with the National Bank Open schedule, following her defeat in the first round of the tournament held in her country. Fernandez, who came from winning the title in Washington last Sunday, was defeated by the Australian Maya Joint with a score of 6-4, 6-1 in just one hour and fifteen minutes. The number 24 in the world ranking expected to have more rest time before her participation in Montreal. 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 I found out on Sunday, while traveling, that it would not be so. Instead of Fernandez, Coco Gauff, the first seed, opened the night session facing Danielle Collins, achieving her first victory since the French Open final, after overcoming 23 double faults with a score of 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2). Valerie Tetreault, tournament director of the National Bank Open in Montreal, responded that she promised Fernandez that “she would fight for her to have the time she wanted”.Tetreault added that exceptions had already been made for Fernandez, the US Open runner-up in 2021. The 22-year-old tennis player and Joint were among the last three first-round matches played on Tuesday, even though half of Fernandez’s draw began playing on Sunday. Tennis Canada issued a statement explaining that, due to WTA protocols, first-round matches must be completed before playing the second round, ensuring fairness for all players. In addition, it was noted that Fernandez could not arrive in Montreal until the early hours of Monday, after winning the title in Washington on Sunday, so the WTA decided to schedule her opening match in the last possible time slot of the first round. Mirra Andreeva, the fourth seed, advanced to the third round after Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, withdrew due to an ankle injury sustained during her first-round victory. On the other hand, Jasmine Paolini, the seventh seed, was defeated by Japan’s Aoi Ito in a third-set tiebreak, while Emma Navarro, the eighth seed, defeated Rebecca Marino with a score of 6-1, 6-2.But I didn’t win my fight. I received the request to play at night. It’s my role to have conversations with the WTA, so I pushed as hard as possible for her to have what she wanted.
Valerie Tetreault
