"That hurt me" - Leylah Fernandez bemoans broken 'promises' from Canadian Open as Citi DC Open euphoria swiftly turns to shock exit

Leylah Fernandez voiced her disappointment at her first-round outing at the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal not being scheduled as a night match. Fernandez, who had arrived at the WTA 1000 event in her home country shortly after her women's singles title triumph at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, lost the match 4-6, 1-6 to Australian teenager Maya Joint.

On Tuesday, July 29, in the wake of her defeat at the hands of Joint, Fernandez made her way to a post-match press conference, where she was asked if the short turnaround between DC and Montreal affected her performance. The 22-year-old was critical of her own "level of play" against the Australian, but she also revealed that the organizers had 'promised' her that her first-round match would be scheduled at night, but didn't fulfill it.

"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," Fernandez 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," she added.

Leylah Fernandez thanks home crowd in Montreal despite suffering 1R heartbreak

Leylah Fernandez waves to the crowd following her first-round loss to Maya Joint at the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal (Source: Getty)

In the same press conference, Leylah Fernandez also spoke up about how the "energy" on Centre Court at Montreal's IGA Stadium was a first-time experience for her. The WTA No. 24 was particularly thankful of the emcee, who motivated the crowd to root for Fernandez.

"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," she said.

Leylah Fernandez still has her doubles campaign to look forward to at the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal. The 22-year-old has teamed up with younger sister Bianca Jolie for the category. However, the Canadian siblings have a daunting challenge on their hands, as they are set to begin their doubles campaign against top seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini from Italy on Wednesday, July 30.

Edited by Sudipto Pati