MUBADALA DC OPEN

July 29, 2026

Leylah Fernandez

Press Conference

A. EALA/L. Fernandez

6-2, 7-6

MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Leylah, tough loss today. When it came to 5-1 in the second, what do you think kind of switched? Was it more that Alex changed her game or something on your end? What's your perspective on that?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Well, I mean, I was talking a little bit with my coaches, and I guess for myself -- well, first of all, today I wasn't playing my best and kind of tried to switch it up a little bit in the second set, and it was working.

At 5-1 I guess I wanted it too much and started reverting back to how I played in the first set, which obviously that didn't help, and started making more mistakes, forcing some errors.

Yeah, that's what happened.

Q. For you in situations like this, do you go straight back to almost the drawing board, sort of list the things you want to work on right away, or are you someone who sort of, you know, is more sort of process-orientated where you are, okay, that was that, moving on to the next thing?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: No, I mean, I love to analyze all my matches, wins or losses. I mean, 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.

Q. You've played Alex now a couple of times. Anything stand out, not necessarily today, but just in general with the progression that she's made over the several months here?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Honestly, Alex has been playing really well. I think the biggest thing is that she's playing with a lot of confidence. She's trusting herself, trusting her shots, her patterns, and a lot of her balls are going in.

So that's the big difference. I feel like she's progressing well. Whatever she's doing with her team is working, yeah.

Q. She's had a lot of early success, if you will, and I know you went through something similar years ago. How does one sustain that? Maybe it's easier said than done. What are the potential challenges that she'll potentially have to be aware of here?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I never want to speak for her, because she has her own mind, her own team, her own profession, professional kind of environment.

I think for myself, growing up, the difficult was managing expectations. Mainly expectations from myself and being mature enough to understand that wins and losses are things that I can't control. Sometimes my best tennis is not going to get me the win, but the uglier tennis will. So just being able to accept that and being mature enough to do that.

That was part of my experience that I wish that I had learned back then. Maybe it would have helped me now; maybe not. I don't know. I can't change the past.

So for Alex, again, I don't know what to tell her. She's doing a great job up to now, and I know she has a great team around her.

Q. So last year you won this tournament. Then you went to Canada, and you lost your first round match. I mean, I know Canada is probably a really big tournament for you, and I know they're all big, and you want to win all of them. But I'm just curious, given how much is probably on your shoulders when you go to play in Canada, what is the preparation for that like? Is there maybe a silver lining in losing early here, because you have a little time to catch your breath and get ready for what awaits you in -- I can't remember. You're going to Toronto this year?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Going to Toronto, yes. Wow, yeah, last year I won the tournament; lost first round. Definitely a heartbreak, because I was playing at home where I grew up in the stadium that I played in and trained at for the longest time.

This year obviously I wish I would have done better in the tournament in Washington where I had so many great memories. You know, 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.

It will give me one or two days extra to actually visit family, which I haven't visited in a couple of years now. My uncle has a baby, so I get to see my little cousin. I get to see my aunts and cousins in Toronto. So that's the silver lining that I see.

But results-wise, we're going to see in a couple of weeks.

Q. Can I just ask you, going back a few years now, when you did play in Canada the first year after you had that break-out at the U.S. Open, what was that like for you, and was that a challenge knowing that all the eyes were on you like that?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Not really. It was actually more exciting. The challenge was because I was going to Toronto after my injury, after the stress fracture. The reality was that I didn't train, I guess, the intensity that I should have trained before a tournament.

I guess I came in there with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of energy, but I just wasn't match shape-ready. So I got a round. Lost in the second round against Haddad Maia, who was playing great at that time and is still playing great now. I mean, she's a tough opponent to play against.

I mean, it's just something that I got to keep working on. Again, managing my own expectations, always wanting to do better than last year, but also kind of make it realistic for myself and focusing on something that I can control, which is my tennis game, my attitude, and my intensity on court.

Q. This tournament Alex, yesterday she came back from a set and a break down against Qinwen, and then today was obviously the 1-5 comeback. From the outside looking in, I feel like she might have gained a reputation of just being a fighter or maybe a tough opponent to close out in sets or just the matches overall. Can you maybe speak to that in your opinion? Do you feel like maybe that could be on your mind, or sometimes as a player, specifically against her, when you are trying to close out sets like that, when you have seen her come back in other matches like that?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Well, the truth was I didn't think about that at all today. I mean, I was 5-1 up. I was playing well, doing the right patterns. Again, I think 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.

You know, she's a tough player. She's playing with a lot of confidence. She's trusting herself. So she's always in the match, whether she's down or whether she's up.

She's playing well this year, and for myself, I just need to focus and see what I need to do better when I am up in the score.

Q. You talked last year after you won about how this place kind of reignited your passion for the sport and everything, and you've had some quarterfinal runs this year and the tail end of last year. How does your game feel? How do you feel about tennis and life right now as you head back home to Canada?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yeah, I'm feeling excited actually. 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.

Q. Having played Alex in Germany, what do you think she did today that made it difficult for you? What did this match teach you moving forward?

LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I don't think Alex did much different from Germany to here. For myself, I just didn't play good. I mean, the first 12 points I'm pretty sure I just won one or two points. I missed everything, pushed the ball. So it was definitely not my best tennis today, but I try to keep positive.

I think Alex, what she did well is that she hung in there. She trusted her game. So what I needed to do better, what I need to learn is to start from the match with that high focus and not give away 12 points so easily (laughing) and be down 3-Love in the span of five minutes.

That can be a big change if it was a couple of deuces here and there. Maybe the momentum would be different. Maybe it would be a little bit more competitive the first set. We never know. Those are all what-ifs.

Yeah, for myself, I just got to be able to focus real quick in the beginning.