MONTREAL — Leila Fernandez criticised her schedule at the National Bank Open after the Canadian was defeated in the first round of her home tournament on Tuesday, two days after winning the title in Washington.
She was routed 6-4, 6-1 by the Australian Mayan joint in just an hour and 15 minutes. 24th-ranked player Fernandez won his fourth career WTA title on Sunday, hoping for more rest before returning to Montreal court.
Fernandez said he received “many promises” to play during Tuesday night sessions, giving him time to recover between the two tournaments, but learned Sunday during his trip.
“I didn’t take it,” she said. “It hurt me and I was really looking forward to playing at night, so I think it’s a bit of a political issue at that point.”
Instead, top-seeded Cocogoff played American-American Daniel Collins and held a night session, overcoming 23 double faults to win 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2) for her first victory since the French Open Finals.
Valerie Tetreault, director of the National Bank Open Tournament in Montreal, responded that Fernandez had promised to “fight so that he could spend the time he wanted.”
“But I didn’t win my battle,” Tetreault said, noting that the WTA Tour will decide to schedule. “I received a request for her to play in the evening. It’s my role to talk to the WTA, so I pushed as much as I could to make sure she had what she wanted.”
Tetreault added that the exception has already been made to Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up. The 22-year-old and Joint were one of the last three first-round matches held until Tuesday, despite half of Fernandez’s starting play on Sunday.
“The WTA protocol means that the first round match must be completed before it plays. “Leila was unable to arrive in Montreal until early Monday morning, given that he won the title in Washington on Sunday. As a result, the WTA decided to play the opening match in the latest possible first round slot.”
No. 4 seed Mira Andreva advanced to the third round when 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andresk retreated after suffering an ankle injury during her first round victory. Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini was upset by Japanese AOI Ito on the third set tiebreaker, and number 8 Emmanavaro rolled past Rebecca Marino 6-1 and 6-2.
