Leylah Fernandez has been knocked out of the Canadian Open just days after winning her fourth WTA title.
The 22-year-old played some exemplary tennis during the previous week, defeating the likes of Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula on her way to the Washington Open title.
Fernandez, who has risen to 24 in the WTA rankings, was defeated by 19-year-old Maya Joint in the Canadian Open first round on Tuesday evening.
The 6-4 6-1 loss was surprising considering the Canadian defeated Joint in the first round of Washington.
However, when considering Fernandez had less than two days to fly from Washington and prepare for her first match in Montreal, the picture becomes clearer.
The Canadian Open have made a big mistake, one that they cannot afford to make again at future tournaments.
Leylah Fernandez was promised the night match
After playing on Sunday, one might have expected Leylah Fernandez to be allowed at least two days to fly from Washington to Montreal; to physically and mentally recover ahead of her first match against Maya Joint.
However, the Canadian was not afforded this opportunity, despite being promised a later scheduling slot.
The WTA Tour can wear on a player, especially when considering the amount of travel they are required to do. In Fernandez’s case, the Canadian Open should have noted this factor when organising their schedule, as she stepped off the court in Washington on Sunday evening.
Fernandez is one of the few players at the Canadian Open who played through to Sunday during the previous week. This scheduling decision likely hampered Fernandez’s performance against Joint as she had significantly less time to prepare than the Australian, who was knocked out by Fernandez in the first round of the Washington Open.
As a result, the Canadian Open has lost a local talent who could have made a deep run at the tournament, while also causing angst for the young Canadian.
Fernandez, while also noting her poor performance, was clearly frustrated with the scheduling during her post-match press conference.
Fernandez said: “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.
“But I mean, regarding 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.
“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.”
As per ESPN, Valerie Tetreault, the Canadian Open tournament director for Montreal, said she had promised Fernandez she would “fight so that she could have the time she wanted.”
Tetreault noted the WTA Tour’s authority regarding scheduling, while pointing out the exceptions that had already been made to assist Fernandez. The Canadian and Maya Joint were one of the last three first -round matches to play on Tuesday, despite their half of the bracket starting on Sunday.
Tetreault said: “But I didn’t win my fight.
“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.”
A statement from Tennis Canada read: “WTA protocols mean first-round matches need to be completed before second-round matches are played, ensuring fairness to all players.
“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.”
Canada’s two major hopes exit the tournament
Canada’s woes were deepened on Tuesday as Denis Shapovalov also exited the tournament.
Shapovalov was defeated by young American star Learner Tien, who has been branded as ‘the next Carlos Alcaraz’ by John McEnroe.
Despite his recent good form while capturing the Los Cabos Open title, the Canadian lost 6-7 5-7 to Tien.
This means the Canadian Open have lost both of their major stars in the early stages. However, former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, who is set to retire from the sport following the tournament, remains in the draw for the women’s singles title.
