Leylah Fernandez Criticizes Scheduling After Early Montreal Exit

Montreal, Jul 30 (AP) Leylah Fernandez expressed dissatisfaction with the scheduling at the National Bank Open following her first-round exit from her home tournament on Tuesday. This occurred just two days after she clinched a title in Washington. Fernandez faced a 6-4, 6-1 defeat against Australian Maya Joint, finishing the match in just 1 hour and 15 minutes. Ranked No. 24, Fernandez celebrated her fourth WTA title on Sunday but was hoping for additional rest before her tournament in Montreal.

Fernandez mentioned she received "a lot of promises" about playing in the night session on Tuesday to allow more recovery time between tournaments. However, she discovered on Sunday that this arrangement would not materialize. "I did not receive that,” she commented. "That hurt me because I was very looking forward to be playing at night, but I guess it's a little bit political issues at that point."

The night session instead featured top-seeded Coco Gauff playing against fellow American Danielle Collins. Gauff overcame 23 double-faults to secure a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2) win, marking her first victory since the French Open final.

Valerie Tetreault, the tournament director for the National Bank Open in Montreal, explained that she promised to advocate for Fernandez to get the time she requested. "But I didn't win my fight," Tetreault said, indicating the scheduling is determined by the WTA Tour. "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."

Tetreault noted that some accommodations were already made for Fernandez, who was the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up. Fernandez and Joint were among the last three first-round matches delayed until Tuesday, despite their section of the bracket commencing on Sunday.

"WTA protocols mean first-round matches need to be completed before second-round matches are played, ensuring fairness to all players," stated Tennis Canada.

"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."

In other tournament news, No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva advanced to the third round due to 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu's withdrawal after suffering an ankle injury during her first-round win. No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini was upset by Japan's Aoi Ito in a third-set tiebreaker, while No. 8 seed Emma Navarro defeated Rebecca Marino 6-1, 6-2.

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