MUBADALA DC OPEN

July 27, 2026

Leylah Fernandez

Press Conference

L. FERNANDEZ/M. Linette

6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Leylah, first match here. Started off with a win. How are you feeling?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I'm feeling very, very good. Happy to get my first win here in Washington. It's a great tournament. So many good memories. So starting off a win definitely helps a lot, and hopefully we can keep going with good momentum.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I guess coming back as a defending champion, maybe that doesn't have too much significance to you in terms of the pressure or anything like that, but you've had the opportunity to do that at Monterey and then Hong Kong. You won Monterey, and in Hong Kong you went pretty far. I'm curious, coming back for the second time in a tournament that you've won, have you learned anything from your experiences that helped you today for this tournament?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I mean, it doesn't really give me a lot of pressure. Like, yes, there is that, like, sense of pressure, but it's not, like, so big as people think.

For myself, I've had good matches here last year, and coming in during training week, my coaches, as always, said that we're coming here to earn our points and not to defend or not to get another title, but to earn it. That's been the mindset.

Hopefully we can keep going that way for the remainder of the week.

Q. How about the comfortability being back on Stadium Court? I'm assuming you had hit there before today. Maybe not. To see your name on the awning, I know that was special, as well.

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Unfortunately, no, that was the first time I hit on court today, on center court. It was so much fun. It definitely brought back a lot of memories.

Seeing my name up there, as I said on court, amongst so many legends, great players, it really means a lot, and it motivates me to keep going, and hopefully, as I said, that I get to repeat. If not, then just to keep going with some good momentum and keep learning for myself and my game.

Q. I saw your name on the US Open mixed doubles list with Frances Tiafoe. Can you talk about what excites you about that event and specifically how the partnership with Frances came about?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I mean, I'm extremely excited to play mixed doubles at the US Open. I mean, I heard some great things from last year. I watched it on TV. It was very exciting.

Unfortunately, last year I couldn't do it. I was playing Monterey. But this year earlier in the year we were thinking, oh, maybe it would be good to play mixed doubles. We were trying to think of different partners, maybe who I can message. Frances was definitely at the top of my list.

When I first messaged him, I knew he was playing with Hailey, and it was unfortunate that she sustained an injury at Roland Garros, but yes, I was kind of waiting a little bit. I was also trying to look at different options, but Frances came back to me and said, Yeah, let's do it, let's play, and hopefully we can do well.

It's going to be a great atmosphere. I know he loves the energy, and I love it, too. Hopefully we can go far.

Q. In D.C. this year you have a new person in your team, Eric Hechtman. I know primarily you've been with your father, Jorge, for a minute, but can you talk about what inspired you to bring him along to the coaching camp for this week, and how have things gone so far? Have there been any things in particular you've been working on?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yeah, I mean, my dad and I, we've been talking about bringing someone in the team for about three years now, for a while now. We've been trying to keep things slow, not being too desperate in bringing just anyone in. We wanted to find the right person, and Eric was the right person.

He seems to be getting along well with my dad and has the same view and visualization on what my game could be and should be. So it definitely helps a lot.

My dad, he's also busy with different projects. He's going to help out a little bit more with my younger sister, as she wants to get in the professional scene a little bit more, and with another player, male player, Jaden Weekes. So he's going to be busy.

They will be sharing the weeks together, and I think that will be a good partnership for all three of us.

Q. Is this the first time that you've had someone else come in like this at this capacity in your pro career? Also, is it more or less a trial run, or is this a vision that you've been -- you'll work with him at least throughout the US Open series?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yeah, I mean, it's not the first time where we brought someone in. A couple years back we brought someone in, and I was, like, working with him for the better part of the year, but unfortunately, our vision of my game wasn't aligned. That's when I got back with my dad and traveled with him.

It was also at that time where I thought maybe it would be cool to work with my dad and an extra person where they can share the weeks, because a couple of years back I thought it would just be me and that other coach, but it felt like something was missing. I always felt comfortable having my dad there in my corner coaching me, because he knows me best.

So it definitely helps out now that I'm more mature. I know what I want, and what I want is that my dad is always there present and with Eric helping us giving us a different point of view.

He's also worked with so many great players. Started off with the Williams sisters. Has worked with some great players the past couple of years, brought them up in the rankings, done great work. So he has a lot of experience.

I feel like we can all work well together. We're going to work throughout this hard court season. I mean, for me I feel like this is set in stone, but we'll see in the next couple of weeks, too.

Q. Can you tell me what part of your game did you think was working really good that made you have that result today?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I think overall my game was solid. I didn't give away too many free points, which definitely helped a lot.

At the beginning of the match what helped was the return where I kind of put pressure on her. Then as the match progressed, I would say my serve helped me a lot in keeping the lead and playing aggressively.

But yeah, as I said, throughout the whole match, my whole game was kind of working, was solid. Didn't away too many free points. So that's a big plus for me.

Q. As defending champion, I wanted to ask you what sort of nerves, if any, you have coming into your first match, and do you sort of want to come out hot to get rid of those really quickly?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yeah, no, there's definitely some nerves, a little bit of pressure, because you're a defending champ. You're also defending so many points. You can't really escape that word "defending champ" because it's kind of everywhere. You see your name in the stadium beside Alex de Minaur, so it's like you can't escape it.

But my coaches have done a great job throughout the weeks working together saying, Hey, we're coming in here to earn it. We're not here to defend anything because we're not a defensive team. We're an aggressive team.

I mean, for myself, coming into this match the goal was to move well, fast, and to just focus on the ball. I'm glad that I did that throughout the match and I was able to find solutions at the end to get the win.

Coming to Washington, it's definitely an area of excitement. I'm excited to be here, and hopefully I can repeat. If not, then as I said, then it's going to be a good tune-up tournament for the rest of the hard court and just see what improvements I can make.

Q. Just looking ahead, a potential intriguing second-round matchup, be it Zheng or Eala, who is playing very well over the past few weeks. Just a thought on what could await in round two?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Both players are tricky. Qinwen, she's a tough opponent to play. She's coming back from an injury. She's playing really well, very powerful.

Alex, she's having a tremendous year, winning some tough matches, coming off a great Wimbledon run.

So they're both coming in with some good confidence. Either player, it's going to be a tough match. For myself, I'm just going to focus on my own game and what I can do to neutralize them and make them uncomfortable.

At the end of the day, if I can do my objectives and work hard and fight, I can leave the court with no regrets regardless the result.