'We'll see in Toronto if it is a silver lining.' Fernandez ready to turn page from DC
WASHINGTON -- When Leylah Fernandez won the Mubadala DC Open on July 27, 2025, she had just one day off in Montreal before returning to the court on July 29 -- a first-round defeat at the National Bank Open. Fernandez said it was a "heartbreak."
This year, after a defeat to Alexandra Eala Wednesday that ended her Washington title defense campaign, she'll have additional time to prepare for her country's premier event, held in Toronto. Whether it's a silver lining will remain to be seen, but Fernandez is ready to turn the page from Washington.
"This year obviously I wish I would have done better in the tournament in Washington where I had so many great memories," Fernandez said to press. "Losing early, I guess we'll see in Toronto if it is a silver lining.
"If I lose first round, then no, there's no silver lining. If I go deep in the tournament, then yeah, it helped out. But if not, I'm just going to take it one day at a time, train, go back to the drawing board."
Off the court, there is a guaranteed silver lining. Fernandez will be able to immediately head to Toronto, and visit extended family, particularly her baby cousin, that she hasn't seen in a few years.
On the court, Fernandez recognizes the results haven't been exactly where she wants them to be. She's reached three quarterfinals this is season in Stuttgart, Madrid and Strasbourg, but hasn't too replicate that success since. However, the Canadian is optimistic of what's to come, and her internal competitive fire hasn't extinguished.
"I'm feeling excited actually," Fernandez said. "I love competing, so that has never wavered, which I'm quite proud of with myself, especially with how the year has gone. Getting on court, playing in front of a stadium of great fans has always motivated me to do better and to get back on court. I'm just excited.
"My game is definitely not at the level that I want it to be, but that is something that I got to take it day by day, keep improving, keep figuring things out, and keep my head up. I think the difficult part is keeping my head up in those moments, and I have a great team, great family who keep reminding me that my time will come. Just got to be patient and put in the work."
Against Eala on Wednesday, Fernandez led 5-1 in the second set, and was well on her way to forcing a third set. Then, the match flipped, as Eala won five straight games to get the match back on serve, ultimately winning in the tiebreak. Fernandez said, when she led 5-1 in the second, she felt she was too aggressive.
"I was 5-1 up. I was playing well, doing the right patterns," Fernandez said. "I said it earlier today that I wanted it too much where I started being overly aggressive. I changed my own tactic, which was pretty dumb of me."
Despite the defeat, Fernandez is quickly proactive when it comes to revisiting her match and discussing what worked and what didn't. Aside from a five to 10-minute cool down period, she'll immediately sit with her team and discuss the match. Wednesday was no different.
"I love to analyze all my matches, wins or losses," Fernandez said. "I would go and talk with my coaches immediately or maybe, like, 5, 10 minutes later to see what I did well, what I didn't do well.
"Then from there, we have objectives of what we want to work on for the next training sessions and, you know, see what we can improve on for the next tournaments."
The main draw at the National Bank Open in Toronto begins on Sunday, August 2.
